IS THIS A SELFLESS, PATRIOTIC AMERICAN LEADER OR ONE WHO PLACES “PRIVILEGE” OVER “PRINCIPLE?”
by Sharon Rondeau
(Jun. 6, 2012) —Barack Obama will spend today campaigning instead of marking the 68th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, which was dubbed “D-Day” and became a turning point in the war against Hitler and his Axis forces.
Michelle Obama will be campaigning in New York and Philadelphia today.
The only time Barack or Michelle Obama commemorated D-Day was in 2009 in Caen, France, while Sarkozy was president. June 6, 1944 was designated as the day on which 156,000 British, Canadian and United States forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, France, to push back against Hitler’s army, which had overtaken France and much of Europe.
In what was called “Operation Neptune,” members of the 1st and 4th Infantry Divisions, 82nd Airborne and 101st Airborne Divisions landed on Utah Beach, and Omaha Beach, on France’s northwestern region located on the English Channel. Gold Beach, Juno Beach and Sword Beach were invaded by the Canadians and British. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, overseeing the European war theater and the Normandy invasion. Eisenhower was elected President of the United States in 1952.
The D-Day invasion last through August of 1944 and succeeded in “gaining a foothold” in enemy territory, pushing back against German counterattacks, and “marked a turning point in World War II.”
Eisenhower addressed the U.S. forces directly prior to the invasion, in which he said:
Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon a great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers in arms on other fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.
Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle hardened, he will fight savagely.
But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man to man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our home fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to victory!
I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory!
Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessings of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.
A 90-year-old former soldier and newlywed, Adelchi Pilutti, who participated in the invasion of Normandy, recalled “being a 22-year-old standing in the door of the plane, which was flying about 500 feet above the earth about 1:30 a.m. June 6, 1944, waiting to jump as he watched German anti-aircraft rounds light up the night sky.” Born in Italy, Pilutti took the oath of allegiance to become a U.S. citizen while stationed in Great Britain following the Normandy operation.
After the D-Day invasion had begun, then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave a radio address in which he said:
A total of 29,000 American soldiers were killed on June 6, 1944. Of those who have survived to live full lives, it is reported that between 650 and 1,000 are passing away each day.
Michelle Obama and Joe Biden’s wife, Dr. Jill Biden, began an initiative called “Joining Forces” in 2010 with the mission of extending medical benefits and necessary supports to “servicemen, veterans and their families,” specifically in the area of post-traumatic stress disorder. “Joining Forces” has issued no statement on the anniversary of D-Day.
In April 2009, the Obama regime’s Department of Homeland Security declared returning veterans at risk of “right-wing extremism.”
A team of scientists has reported finding small pieces of shrapnel used during the invasion of Normandy 68 years ago.
When President Ronald Reagan visited Normandy 28 years ago for the 40-year anniversary of D-Day, he said, part:
We’re here to mark that day in history when the Allied armies joined in battle to reclaim this continent to liberty. For 4 long years, much of Europe had been under a terrible shadow. Free nations had fallen, Jews cried out in the camps, millions cried out for liberation. Europe was enslaved, and the world prayed for its rescue. Here in Normandy the rescue began. Here the Allies stood and fought against tyranny in a giant undertaking unparalleled in human history.
Some say tyranny is now here in America.
Keith Koffler of White House Dossier describes Obama’s lack of D-Day commemoration in this way:
It’s D-Day and President Obama is hitting the beaches – of sunny California!
Perhaps Obama is passing the time on the airplane by using his Blackberry before “scooping up cash” in California.
Eisenhower also said, “A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.”
“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.” – Thomas Jefferson
A lovely tribute to brave, principled Americans and their allied forces. Thank you!