D-Day: Our debt can never be repaid
Today is the 70th anniversary of a day that should live in the hearts of free people for all time.
June 6, 1944, was the date when the United States and its allies began their amphibious invasion of Western Europe on the beaches of Normandy in northern France.
But D-Day wasn’t just an invasion, nor just a massive military operation — it was a statement. A statement that evil must be confronted, that oppression must not be allowed to stand, that free people must be willing to sacrifice mightily in order to stay free.
More than 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of the Normandy coastline on June 6 under the direction of Gen. Dwight David Eisenhower. The Nazis fought back fiercely, resulting in as many as 5,000 deaths of Allied soldiers, sailors and paratroopers. But Eisenhower and the nations behind him declared, “We will accept nothing less than full victory.”
All the people of the world owe an eternal debt of gratitude for those brave soldiers and their leaders who vowed not just to stay free, but to also free those who were already in chains.
It is therefore fitting that today the surviving veterans of that campaign will be honored, many for the last time, as America and the world once more take note of their bravery, determination and fortitude against a barbaric foe.
Locally, we take pride in the fact that seven of our local musicians have traveled to France to join dozens of other community band members from across the United States to perform a memorial concert at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial.
Whatever you are doing today, please take time to adequately consider our debt to the heroes of D-Day, and as always, thank a veteran for his or her service to our nation.
Track and field superstars!
One sprinter and one thrower etched their names into the Montana track and field record books last weekend.
Speedster Marlow Schulz of Whitefish completed a sweep of the Class A sprints for the third straight year and won her fourth 100-meter dash state title.
Todd Ogden of Glacier broke his own state record in the javelin en route to his fourth straight Class AA state title in the event.
Those are rare accomplishments for both athletes.
Schulz became just the fourth girl in Montana history to win the 100 all four years of high school; Ogden is only the fifth boy in Montana to win an event four times.
Congratulations on sensational finishes to their careers for these two Flathead Valley athletes.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Daily Inter Lake’s editorial board.