Sunrise was at 5:58 a.m., 70 years ago on Tuesday, June 6, 1944. Operation Overlord's "H" Hour was set for 6:30 a.m. The weather was foul, the visibility was slight, and the seas were rough. The invasion had been postponed repeatedly due to the mercurial nature of the North Atlantic. However, the Allied High Command decided that on this day and this time, Normandy would be the place where necessity and destiny intersected. 160,000 Allied servicemen from Navy officers to Army infantry made their way to that 50 mile stretch of coastline. Battered, wet, seasick, and cold these men...boys...would bludgeon their way through bullets and bodies to make their heroic and anticipated entrance into World War II.
When I think of these events, my mind's eye sees them in black and white film footage and photographs. I hear the narrators on the "Movietone" newsreels announce the "beginning of the end" for Nazi Germany. These patriotic images, propaganda films and songs cemented "reel" icons of bravery into our collective consciousness and popular culture.
I was lucky to know a "real" hero. My Pappy, Kenneth Burris, fought his way to the shore in D-Day and was present in every major European Theater engagement until a concussion grenade ended his military service in April of 1945. Pappy was 23 years old with a wife and two daughters when he landed on that strip of sand so many years ago. He was not unlike several of his brothers or childhood friends that joined to serve our nation in its time of need. These men were not unlike so many soldiers after them, that continue to bear the burden for our security. So on this Veteran's Day, in honor and memory of my patriarch, I would like to thank all of those who have served in the armed services in my own family and in your's. We, the people, salute your sacrifice and service.