D-Day commemoration, Omaha Beach, June 6 2024
Zelensky arrived, the crowd applauded. And then this happened:
🇺🇸 veteran: You’re a saviour of the people
Zelensky: No, no, you saved Europe
🇺🇸 veteran: My hero
Zelensky: No, you are our hero
🇺🇸🇫🇷🇺🇦
General Omar Bradley called it the most dangerous mission of D-Day. He was not wrong.
At 6:30am on June 6, 1944, 225 Army Rangers approached a 100-foot sheer cliff face on the Normandy coast called Pointe du Hoc.
Their mission: climb it.
The cliff was vertical. The Germans were at the top with full visibility of everyone below. As the Rangers fired grappling hooks upward, the Germans cut the ropes. Shot the men hanging on them. Dropped grenades over the edge onto the climbers beneath.
The Rangers kept climbing.
It took roughly 40 minutes. Men fell. Men were shot off the ropes. The ones behind them grabbed the ropes and kept going.
They reached the top.
Then came the gut punch: the massive 155mm artillery guns they had been sent to destroy were gone. The Germans had moved them inland before the invasion. The entire mission had been sent to destroy guns that weren't there.
Most commanders would have regrouped and called it done.
The Rangers fanned out. Two miles inland, they found the guns, hidden in an orchard, already aimed at Utah Beach and loaded to fire. They destroyed every one with thermite grenades.
Then they dug in. Cut off, with almost no ammunition, no reinforcements, and no resupply, 225 men held Pointe du Hoc against relentless German counterattacks for two full days.
When relief finally arrived, only 90 Rangers could still stand and fight.
Their names are carved on a memorial in Normandy. Most Americans today cannot name a single one.
“It was one of the most monumentally unselfish things one group of people did for another.”
-#DDay veteran Andy Rooney on the young 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 🇬🇧 soldiers who stormed the beaches of Normandy 82 years ago.
Required watching for every young person today!
82 years ago today, nearly 160,000 Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, launching the liberation of Europe.
We are free because they were brave. 🇺🇸
No auto tuners, no computer generated anything. Just raw, clean musicianship and beautiful harmonies. Thanks John and Cass. Well done.
John Denver & Cass Elliot Leaving On A Jet Plane
“I might have been given a bad break, but I’ve got an awful lot to live for.” - Lou Gehrig
Today we honor the life and legacy of The Iron Horse as we continue the fight against ALS. #LouGehrigDay
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@roryvan_1@55SweetThing Yes. On the 1926 London studio recording of "The Half of It Dearie Blues" from LBG, you can hear G. Gershwin (28) and 27-year-old Astaire talking. Fred says: "How's that, George?" and Gershwin replies: "That's fine, Freddie! Keep going!" (or "Do it again!"). George on piano.
6. Your contribution means a lot to our contest and to the wider literary community.
Wishing each of you the very best of luck!
Check out the interactive map here: https://t.co/Up1whzv8yS
Today we remember the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. Their courage, honor, and selflessness must never be forgotten. We owe them more than words, we owe them our gratitude, our respect, and a promise to never take their sacrifice for granted. I was, and still am, deeply anti-war. But you can hate war and still love the veteran. Never disrespect a veteran. EVER! They were taken from their homes and forced to do an unimaginable job.
When I was asked to perform for the troops in Viet Nam, I was scared, terrified, but I knew it was something I had to do. It was the least I could offer to those risking their lives in a war they hadn’t asked to fight. I remember the faces of the many brave souls in the audiences, and those of the sick and wounded I visited in the hospitals, and I often wonder how many of them made it home.
Toward the end of my time at Reprise Records, anti-war and protest songs were taking over. The label tried to push me in that direction, but I wasn’t prepared. The sights, the sounds, the smells of Viet Nam were still fresh. They still are. So many things I witnessed that I can’t even talk about to this day.
Mac Davis presented “Home” to me, which he had written with Larry Collins and it was just as powerful as songs like “Eve of Destruction,” but Reprise Records relegated it to the B-side of “Drummer Man.” It remains one of the most meaningful songs I’ve ever recorded.
“Oh, God, I hope they make it home.”
This Memorial Day, let us pause not only to enjoy the day, but to reflect on the cost of the freedoms we so often take for granted.
Remember them. Honor them. Never forget. 😢💙🇺🇸