This picture...

 

This picture was taken of my Dad about 6 months after D-Day, when he was on a short leave for some R&R in South France to help him recover from some nerve issues he was having. I am posting this on this Memorial Day weekend because my Dad helped pick up the dead on Omaha Beach for 3 days and then recorded all their names and information. He then helped lay their bodies in the long trench that was dug out with a bulldozer. After the war ended all the bodies were transferred to the American Cemetery at Colleville sur Mer which actually overlooks Omaha Beach. My Dad visited that cemetery 3 times and while there also visited the grave of his best buddy, Robert W. Snell who was killed on June 11, 1944 in Normandy.

I have witnessed grown Frenchmen cry on my Father’s shoulder and thank him for their freedom. There still remains there, people who lived through the German Occupation, which started about 1939. I personally interviewed an elderly Frenchman who saw German soldiers bring all the residents of their village into the Main Street and then shot a man in front of all the villagers because he had hidden some food for his family. These elderly people still tell the stories to their grandchildren and great grandchildren of what it was to lose all their freedom.

Every year each of these villages have a “Liberation Day” ceremony in their village square to remember what the Americans did to liberate them from the tyranny of the Germans and give them the freedom that they still enjoy to this day. Each village has a different day that they celebrate “Liberation Day” because the Americans were moving across France every day and taking each village one day at a time. If you ever have the privilege to be at one of these celebrations you will see 2 flags flying at each ceremony. One is the French Flag and the other is the American Flag. Many times you will hear them sing, “God Bless America”. They really understand freedom because they have lived through a period when all freedom was taken from them. They appreciate freedom so much and they appreciate what our American forces did for them.

We must never forget, never forget that many died so that millions could enjoy freedom. Memorial Day commemorates the men and women who died while fighting for freedom. We have fought for freedom since the Revolutionary War. I want my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren and all who follow them to know and remember what America has done for freedom all over the world. Remember, there would be no Memorial Day without the loss of good men and women willing to serve our country and help preserve freedom for all of us.

In 2009, I was privileged to be at the D-Day celebration when French President, Nicholas Szarkosy, gave a stirring speech at the D-Day celebration at the American Cemetery. It was probably the best speech ever given about freedom. At the end of that speech he said, “We will never forget, We will never forget, We will never forget”.