Today is June 6th.
66 years ago today the Allied forces landed in France and began the end of the Third Reich.
Every year on this day I watch The Longest Day. I read the book of the same name by Cornelius Ryan many years ago and have enjoyed the movie for the last few years since I found it on tape.
Its often said that Freedom isn't free, and sometimes I think we are too far away from exactly how high that cost is.
When every family had at least one son or daughter in uniform and everyone knew at least one Gold Star Mother we knew the cost of freedom and weren't willing to let it go cheaply.
Now, we don't know the cost of Freedom, or the price of getting it back. Ben Franklin said those who trade liberty for security deserve neither, and I really don't think we have either at this point.
Each day we lose a little more liberty, for the sake of security, but are no more secure than we were the day before, and maybe less so, because we are now prepared for what the enemy was doing, not what they are doing, but because we have 'done something' we have a false sense of security.
The stories about D-Day- even those produced when a film was supposed to entertain- help put that cost in perspective. Unlike Saving Private Ryan , which manages a realism in both language and gore that The Longest Day lacks, I think Ryan lacks the comprehensive historical overview Day has. And the lack of realism makes for a better story.
I want to review the events of D-Day; not be traumatized by them.
So take a minute today and remember the cost of freedom.
And then ask yourself why we have placed such a low cost on its loss.
2 comments:
Not the Duke's best effort.
These big ensemble casts were never a good idea.
Although both Henry Fonda and Richard Burton gave stellar performances in that movie.
And you sentiments are echoed here.
Did you know that Yogi Berra was at D-Day?
He was a sailor in an LST.
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