70 Years

Yesterday, June 6, 2014, marked 70 years since the D-Day invasion of World War II.
For a long time I wanted to be a history major with a U.S. concentration. I still have an intense love of studying history, and I find D-Day, though gruesome, to be the most fascinating singular day of the 20th century. When I was a junior in high school, I was given an essay question in a test to "chronicle D-Day and the Battle of Normandy," explain their significance, and include how I might have reacted. Here's what I wrote then on the subject:
"The D-Day invasion, or Operation Overload, was scheduled for June 6, 1944, as a surprise invasion. Leading up to D-Day, several diversions were created by aircraft in other parts of Europe and North Africa. Despite weather difficulties, General Dwight D. Eisenhower decided that Operation Overload must go on. In the early hours of June 6, paratroopers were dropped in various areas of France. One of the most famous of these locations was Ste. Mere-Eglise, where one paratrooper's parachute got caught on the church steeple and he had to be rescued. Pontoon boats brought soldiers ashore on Normandy Beach a few hours later. Canadian and British soldiers were due to unload at code-named Sword, Gold, and Juno beaches, while American troops were to arrive at Omaha and Utah beaches. Because so many soldiers and paratroopers were deposited in the wrong locations, many got lost or were killed. Though losses were heavy, the Allies won victory at Normandy.
"If I had been a soldier in the Normandy invasion, I know for certain that I would've been scared. I would be relying on adrenaline to get me through the battle and I'd be too focused on the task at hand to be nauseated by the gory sights surrounding me."
(Even three years later, I wish I had had more time to write this essay...I had so much in my head to put onto paper. Guess that's what happens when you read up on D-Day a bunch and happen to watch The Longest Day in your sophomore history class--and, by the way, that's a really good movie. Go watch it. Seriously.)
I'm so grateful to those who sacrifice of their time and put their lives on the line for our freedom. God bless America.