“At the core, the American citizen soldiers knew the difference between right and wrong, and they didn't want to live in a world in which wrong prevailed. So, they fought and won, and we, all of us, living and yet to be born, must be forever profoundly grateful.” — Stephen Ambrose, Citizen Soldiers

“They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate.” --President Franklin D. Roosevelt, on the American soldiers on D Day.

On June 6, 2023, I had the honor and rare privilege of standing on Utah Beach with my wife and son for the 79th Anniversary of the Normandy invasion in World War II. Thousands come to Normandy each year to remember the sacrifices of so many for freedom. The cemetery at Omaha Beach serves a stunning reminder of those heroes who paid the price, without counting the cost.

It was June 6, 1944. 24,000 American, British, and Canadian troops landed on the cold and windy beaches of Normandy in northern France to liberate Europe and the world from Nazi tyranny. Theirs was the largest naval invasion in history.

On the evening of June 5, 1944, paratroopers of the US and Allied forces dropped by the thousands into the darkness and danger of Nazi occupied Normandy. For them, it was truly dropping into the eye of a horrific storm. For well over a year, the Nazi’s had been fortifying what they called “The Atlantic Wall”--2,000 miles of northern European coast to prevent just such an invasion by the Allies. Hardened gun batteries like impenetrable fortresses all along the coast of northern France, the resistance was daunting. Powerful Nazi guns would be launching shells as far as a mile into Allied warships for the anticipated invasion. The Nazi forces had filled the beaches with deadly iron “Czech Hedgehogs” and barbed wire to injure Allied men and machines. Thousands of Nazi troops with grenades and machine guns bearing down along the wall, and the flooding of the French inland all were to ensure a bloody stop to any Allied intrusion.

So on the dark and stormy night of June 5, 1944, the Allied paratroopers dropped inland the night before the largest land invasion in world history—to liberate the world from the expanding tyranny. Many were killed before landing, others died in firefights that night. And on the cold windy beaches the next morning, thousands of Allied soldiers hit the water from their landing vehicles each carrying over 50 pounds of gear; already seasick, they waded through bloody carnage, deafening explosions, and untold savagery as they advanced inland. In all, over 10,000 Allied forces died in the first 24 hours of the D Day invasion.

Just think about it…

Theirs was not a nationalistic attempt to expand a nation’s territory. It was not simply a traditional defense of one country’s national interests over another. Pure and simple, their objective was to free the world from an evil, tyrannical oppressor. Some might call this unrealistic ideology today. In our modern, “Me First” mentality, we find it hard to imagine sacrificing so much for others, for some vague, abstract, or old-fashioned notion of “freedom.” But for those troops on June 5 and 6, 1944, they were willing to pay the price without counting the cost. The cost for over 10,000 of them was their own lives. May we be forever grateful. And may we kindle in our own hearts their own spirit of sacrifice, not counting the cost.

So on this June 6, 2023 morning, we saw the international crowd that had gathered, seeing the many hearts heavy with the weight of the moment, the memories, the appreciation of these acts of sacrifice. We heard the French of all ages applauding at the conclusion of a documentary movie in the Utah Beach Museum about the Allied landing. Parents and teachers passing on to the children the story of the fight for their freedom. May none of us ever forget…