The 70th Anniversary of D-Day

In the unlikely and improbable story of our great country, one of the most remarkable and incredible chapters was the Allied Forces invasion of Normandy on this day 70 years ago. They had one chance and so many things could have doomed the mission. The chances of success were 50/50 at best. Yet, somehow, they managed to turn the tide of WWII and end Hitler's reign of tyranny.

Just imagine all of the preparation that went into the invasion.  Over 11,000 aircraft, nearly 7,000 ships and they somehow managed to keep their plans from getting out.  In this day age, with satellites and computers, you could never pull off an operation of that magnitude.

Of course, all of the brave men who served our country in WWII were heroes.  We call them the greatest generation for a reason.  It's hard to imagine that our country would have the collective courage for that kind of mission these days.

Among the biggest heroes of the war were the 82nd and 101st Airborne Division.  They were the first to land on shore and they took the brunt of the assault from the German machine gunners.

Another group of heroes you don't hear a lot about were the airman and seaman patrolling the North Sea.  One reason why the D Day invasion was successful was because the German were convinced we were going to invade Norway.  We even had Patton stationed near Norway as part of the elaborate decoy.  The German Army positioned most of their forces in the North Sea, resulting in heavy casualties for our troops in that area.

We are all lucky to live in the greatest country on Earth.  A country that fought to defend a continent under siege by a crazed lunatic.  It's important that we remember the sacrifices that those brave men made that day to help defend the freedom we still enjoy.  God bless America.