Tag Archives: D-Day

May 31, 2013 · 5:35 am

Remembering John Steele — 82nd Airborne, D-Day


In keeping with Monday’s Memorial Day blog I dedicate today’s Fun Photo Friday to the memory of John Steele, Sainte-Mère-Église, and the church upon which Private Steele of the 82nd Airborne hung suspended for two hours before briefly being taken prisoner by the German Army, escaping, and later rejoining his brigade.

You will recall this famous incident from the movie The Longest Day, in which Private Steele was portrayed by Red Buttons.  That church remains to this day standing silent sentinel over the town square.  Hanging from a spire is a continuing memorial to Private Steels (see black-and-white photograph below) — a mannequin dressed in battle gear and uniform suspended by a parachute canopy and shroud lines.

Inside that church you will find some decidedly unusual stained glass windows.  Look at them carefully.  You’ll see reminders of that day in the form of airborne patches and armed troops gliding to earth beneath silk canopies.

John Steele — Still Hanging in Memorium
Paratroopers in Stained Glass
Stained Tribute to the 82nd Airborne

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May 27, 2013 · 5:35 am

The Meaning of Memorial Day


Normandy American Cemetery, France

Honorably discharged veterans of the military are frequently thanked on this day for their service to their nation.  And although we are grateful for the thanks, veterans would like to remind you that Veterans Day (formerly Armistice Day and also known as Remembrance Day to our Commonwealth Cousins) is the time to celebrate military service both past and present.  Memorial Day is set aside to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of a grateful nation.

Overlooking Omaha Beach, Normandy

Memorial Day was originally conceived as Decoration Day in the immediate wake of the Civil War, and it formally commemorated the horrendous loss of life experienced by both the Union and the Confederacy.

Statue Titled: The Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves Normandy American Cemetery

The true meaning of Memorial Day has been all but obscured since Congress changed the date of observance from May 30 to the last Monday in May so as to create a three-day weekend.  Now, unfortunately, it’s seen more as a quasi National Barbeque Day and the unofficial First Day of Summer.  As a result its true meaning has been obscured to many.

M4 Sherman Tank on Utah Beach

Veterans Day suffered a similar fate – moved to the fourth Monday of October – but in this case Congress acknowledged the dilution of that holiday’s true meaning and moved it back to its hard date of November 11 a few years later. Congress really ought to do the same with Memorial Day.  To me, that’s a much more solemn occasion deserving of even more respect than Veterans Day.

German Gun Emplacement Overlooking Pointe de Hoc

On April of last year I had the solemn privilege of walking through some of the battlefields of the D-Day Invasion in Normandy, France.  It was a pilgrimage I had wanted to make since I was a youngster of nine sitting in a darkened theater at an Air Force Base in Ohio watching the classic film The Longest Day.  The pictures I took that cold day in April are what you’ve been experiencing throughout this blog.

Pointe de Hoc, Normandy

Below are a few more reminders of what we commemorate on this solemn occasion.  Included in those photographs are the markers for Medal of Honor recipient Brigadier General Theodore “Ted” Roosevelt, Jr. who died just five weeks after he led the landing at Utah Beach, and his younger brother 2nd Lieutenant Quentin Roosevelt of the 95th Aero Squadron (Pursuit), who also fell on French soil just two days shy of twenty-six years earlier — during World War I.  They are two brothers separated by two World Wars reunited a quarter century later in hallowed ground in Normandy, France.

Normandy American Cemetery, France
Normandy American Cemetery, France
Normandy American Cemetery
Normandy American Cemetery
Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., Normandy, France
2nd Lieutenant Quentin Roosevlelt

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November 11, 2012 · 10:29 am

A Reminder from the Past on Veterans’ Day


A Reminder from the Past on Veterans’ Day.

RDoug's avatarR. Doug Wicker — Author

We arrived in Cherbourg, France, the day after Saint-Malo and our day trip to the tidal island of Mont Saint-Michel and the medieval walled city of Dinan.  Cherbourg’s big claim to fame was that it was the first stop after leaving Southampton, England, made by the RMS Titanic.  The RMS Titanic struck an iceberg at 23:40 hours on April 14, and succumbed to the resulting damage by disappearing beneath the icy Atlantic waves some two hours and forty minutes later, breaking apart and heading to the bottom at 02:20 hours on April 15.  The year was 1912—just one week shy of 100 years from when our ship passed over the Titanic’s watery grave at 02:00 hours on the morning of April 8 as we made our way from Bermuda to Saint-Malo.  For more on that tragic day, read this article on the Sinking of the RMS Titanic.

But…

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