Saturday, June 25, 2011

HOMES FOR OUR TROOPS





He will turn the key on his new home on Saturday, June 25th at 11:00. 12360 North Conestoga Terrace, Black Forest, CO 800106. Thanks to all who helped with the home. And thanks to Bob & Chris at ProTeam Roofing for helping and passing along the story. Richard

Army Sergeant Jeffrey Adams lost both of his legs due to injuries suffered while deployed to Afghanistan in August 2009. While on his second deployment, SGT Adams was returning to base from the Pesh River Valley when the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Vehicle he was riding in ran over a pressure plated IED. Pulled from the damaged vehicle, SGT Adams has no recollection of what happened prior to or after the blast. Transported to the hospital in Bagram, Surgeons amputated his right leg before airlifting him to Landstuhl, Germany and finally to Walter Reed where his left leg was amputated as well. SGT Adams remains at Walter Reed where he continues receiving therapies and treatment at this time.

SGT Adams loves hockey and having grown up in Flint, MI is a dedicated Detroit Red Wings fan. His daughter, Jewel is currently living with Jeff’s mother while they await his release from Walter Reed and prepare to live in Colorado.

SGT Adams is looking forward to marrying his fiancé and beginning a new life in a home that will allow him the freedom and independence he fought to preserve for our country. He says he is looking forward to being able to get around a home more easily as there are challenges now when he visits his home where his wheelchair does not fit into the bathroom. SGT Adams would like to thank everyone who will make his specially adapted home built by Homes for Our Troops a reality... saying it means more to him than words can say.

America has been at war since 2001. During that time, two million of our nation's sons and daughters have answered the call of duty. Over 5,000 of these brave men and women have been killed. Over 40,000 have suffered physical injuries. Of those 40,000, some have paid a terrible price, suffering injuries so severe that they must rely on others for care, losing much of their independence. These severely injured veterans have a desperate need for specially adapted homes that will help restore the independence they have lost.

Homes for Our Troops has launched the 100 More…...Homes for Our Troops campaign. In the last seven years, Homes for Our Troops has committed to giving back freedom and independence to 100 military families. This committment is set to be fulfilled in 2011 and we are looking toward the future; to 100 more and beyond. As the number of eligible applicants continues to grow, we estimate that there are between 1,000 to 1,500 OIF/OEF veterans among us that have injuries so severe that they are in need of an adapted home. With America's support, Homes for Our Troops can "give back" freedom and independence to them through a gift of a specially adapted home.

PANCAKE BREAKFAST FOR WORLD WAR TWO VETERANS



Applebees Pancake Breakfast

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Saturday, 30 July 2011, 07:00am - 09:00am

Must have tickets to attend. Tickets require $7 donation or higher

Location : Applebees at 7625 Goddard St, COS, CO 719-535-2799

Contact : Misti, Lana, Sal, Paul, Jane or Donna

Honor Flight of Southern Colorado

Honor Flight Network is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization created solely to honor America's Veterans for all their sacrifices. Honor Flight transports our heroes to Washington, D.C. to visit and reflect at their memorials. Top priority is given to the senior Veterans who may be terminally ill.

Of all the wars in recent memory, it was World War II that truly threatened our very existence as a nation-and as a culturally diverse, free society.

HONOR FLIGHT Network is our way of paying a small tribute to those who gave so much to fight for our freedoms, a memorable, safe, and rewarding TOUR of HONOR!!!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

B-17 CRASHES






OSWEGO, Ill. -- A B-17 bomber that dates to World War II has crashed and burned in a cornfield outside Chicago.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory says the plane took off from Aurora Municipal Airport on Monday morning and crashed about 20 minutes later in Oswego.

Last year Jarred Rego and I took a ride on the flying museum... The B-17 "Liberty Belle". I have flown on several B-17s, and a B-24 and B-29. It was THE BEST plane and crew of them all. What's the story behind the Liberty Belle? On September 9, 1944 the 390th Bomb Group attacked a target in Dusseldorf, Germany and suffered its second largest single mission loss of the war. Over the target just prior to bomb release, one of the low squadron B-17s was hit in the Bomb bay by flak. The 1000 lb. bombs exploded and nine of the twelve aircraft in the squadron were instantly destroyed or knocked out of formation. Six of the nine went down over the target, one flew two hours on a single engine and landed at Paris, another "crippled plane" landed in Belgium and the other struggled back to its home base and landed long after the other thirty nine B-17s had returned from the mission. The one that came home was "Liberty Belle", she went on to complete 64 combat missions before being salvaged on February 18, 1945. The Liberty Foundation’s B-17G (SN 44-85734) has an interesting post-war history. Originally sold on June 25, 1947 as scrap to Esperado Mining Co. of Altus, OK, it sold again later that year to Pratt & Whitney for $2,700. Pratt & Whitney operated the B-17 from November 19, 1947 to 1967 as a heavily modified test bed for their P&W T-34 and T-64 turboprop engines. It became a “5-engine aircraft”, having the powerful prototype engine mounted on the nose! The aircraft was flown “single-engine”, with all four radial engines feathered during test flights. Following this life as a test platform, it was donated in the late 1960s to the Connecticut Aeronautical Historic Association in East Hartford. Unfortunately, it was heavily damaged on October 3, 1979 in a tornado, in which another aircraft was thrown onto the B-17’s mid-section. The wreck was stored in the New England Air Museum, CT from 1981 until 1987.

Friday, June 10, 2011

LETTER I READ THIS MORNING - LEFT AT WALL IN 1985


June 8, 1985
Dear Eddie

Although it's been fifteen years since you've been gone it feels like it could have been fifteen days. Many times I have regretted not getting to know you better than I did. There was a quiet, sensitive goodness about you. You were one of the guys that had been with the unit awhile and was getting “short”. I knew about your girl, your Mom & Dad and that you wanted to put your time in and get home. If anyone knew you at all, they liked you a lot.

I'll never forget being awakened at three that morning by the hysterical crying of Denny Newbill and Jerry Hall. “One of our guys is dead!” was all I could get out of Newbill. When Jerry told me it was you, I can remember demanding an answer- "Oh God, Why? Why any of us? Why Eddie?” I never did get any concrete answers. Our whole company felt a tremendous loss. When I left in August, there was still a sense of grief around. Things never did get back to “normal”.

I hope you don't mind, but recently I made contact with your parents. They’ve moved twice and are now retired in Missouri, trusting in the Lord that you are at peace. They can't afford to travel much so I've sent them pictures of the Memorial and your name. They're good people, too. I hope to meet them some day.

For years, I felt your life, as well as the other 58,000 lives, was wasted and anyone who wasn't there could not or would not understand what we went through. That's changing now. People are beginning to realize that we were doing our jobs and doing them well. We had to pay the price and until recently, we were the ones tagged as losers, not our government. So if your names on this wall make it harder to send guys half way around the world to die, then maybe it wasn't a total waste.

I love you, brother. I pray some day we will welcome each other home. Peace.

John "Soup'' Campbell

SHE IS A FRIEND OF A FRIEND... SHE IS ON THE WALL


1st Lt. Sharon Ann Lane - On the Wall at 23W 112
Lt. Lane died from shrapnel wounds when the 312th Evac. at Chu Lai was hit by rockets on June 8, 1969. From Canton, OH, she was a month short of her 26th birthday. She was posthumously awarded the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm and the Bronze Star for Heroism. In 1970, the recovery room at Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Denver, where Lt. Lane had been assigned before going to Viet Nam, was dedicated in her honor. In 1973, Aultman Hospital in Canton, OH, where Lane had attended nursing school, erected a bronze statue of Lane. The names of 110 local servicemen killed in Vietnam are on the base of the statue.

DREW DIX CITATION



The President of the United States
in the name of The Congress
takes pleasure in presenting the
Medal of Honor
to

DIX, DREW DENNIS

Rank and Organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, U.S. Senior Advisor Group, IV Corps, Military Assistance Command. Place and date: Chau Doc Province, Republic of Vietnam, 31 January and 1 February 1968. Entered service at: Denver, Colo. Born: 14 December 1944, West Point, N.Y.

Citation:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. S/Sgt. Dix distinguished himself by exceptional heroism while serving as a unit adviser. Two heavily armed Viet Cong battalions attacked the Province capital city of Chau Phu resulting in the complete breakdown and fragmentation of the defenses of the city. S/Sgt. Dix, with a patrol of Vietnamese soldiers, was recalled to assist in the defense of Chau Phu. Learning that a nurse was trapped in a house near the center of the city, S/Sgt. Dix organized a relief force, successfully rescued the nurse, and returned her to the safety of the Tactical Operations Center. Being informed of other trapped civilians within the city, S/Sgt. Dix voluntarily led another force to rescue 8 civilian employees located in a building which was under heavy mortar and small-arms fire. S/Sgt. Dix then returned to the center of the city. Upon approaching a building, he was subjected to intense automatic rifle and machinegun fire from an unknown number of Viet Cong. He personally assaulted the building, killing 6 Viet Cong, and rescuing 2 Filipinos. The following day S/Sgt. Dix, still on his own volition, assembled a 20-man force and though under intense enemy fire cleared the Viet Cong out of the hotel, theater, and other adjacent buildings within the city. During this portion of the attack, Army Republic of Vietnam soldiers inspired by the heroism and success of S/Sgt. Dix, rallied and commenced firing upon the Viet Cong. S/Sgt. Dix captured 20 prisoners, including a high ranking Viet Cong official. He then attacked enemy troops who had entered the residence of the Deputy Province Chief and was successful in rescuing the official's wife and children. S/Sgt. Dix's personal heroic actions resulted in 14 confirmed Viet Cong killed in action and possibly 25 more, the capture of 20 prisoners, 15 weapons, and the rescue of the 14 United States and free world civilians. The heroism of S/Sgt. Dix was in the highest tradition and reflects great credit upon the U.S. Army.

VIETNAM MEMORIAL AT FORT CARSON

Fort Carson will host a Vietnam Veterans’ Welcome Home celebration June 10 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Ironhorse Park.
The half-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, known as “The Wall That Heals,” will highlight this year’s event. The wall will be available for viewing 24 hours a day June 8-12, near Kit Carson Park outside of Gate 1.
The celebration, free and open to the public, will also feature family activities, entertainment, bus tours of Fort Carson and information booths about veterans’ services.
Access onto Fort Carson for visitors attending the activities June 10 will be through gates 1, 4 and 20. Drivers will be required to show a valid state driver’s license, vehicle registration and proof of insurance. All vehicle occupants 18 and older will be required to show valid state- or federally-issued photo identification. All vehicles entering the installation are subject to search. Visitors will be issued an event parking pass, which must be displayed on the dashboard of the vehicle at all times while on the installation. Nondecaled vehicles that are not removed from the installation by 5 p.m. June 11 will be towed at the owner’s expense.
The Vehicle Registration Office, building 6012, will be closed from 7-11 a.m. June 10 and the parking lot will be closed at 6 p.m. Thursday. Nondecaled vehicles will be processed at gates 2, 3, 4, 5 and 20 during this time.
Traffic control personnel will be directing visitors to the parking areas off of Wetzel Avenue south of Prussman Boulevard, the east side of the Ironhorse Park.
Handicap parking will be available at Kit Carson Park and the main parking lot at Ironhorse Park.
Coffee and doughnuts will be served without charge and vendors will have food and beverages for purchase.

D-DAY NORMANDY LESSON PLAN - BOSWELL PART FOUR

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Monday, June 6, 2011

D-DAY NORMANDY LESSON PLAN - PART EIGHT


Casualties on the British beaches were roughly 1000 on Gold Beach and the same number on Sword Beach. The remainder of the British losses were amongst the airborne troops: some 600 were killed or wounded, and 600 more were missing; 100 glider pilots also became casualties. The losses of 3rd Canadian Division at Juno Beach have been given as 340 killed, 574 wounded and 47 taken prisoner.

The breakdown of US casualties was 1465 dead, 3184 wounded, 1928 missing and 26 captured. Of the total US figure, 2499 casualties were from the US airborne troops (238 of them being deaths). The casualties at Utah Beach were relatively light: 197, including 60 missing. However, the US 1st and 29th Divisions together suffered around 2000 casualties at Omaha Beach.

The total German casualties on D-Day are not known, but are estimated as being between 4000 and 9000 men.

Naval losses for June 1944 included 24 warships and 35 merchantmen or auxiliaries sunk, and a further 120 vessels damaged.

Over 425,000 Allied and German troops were killed, wounded or went missing during the Battle of Normandy. This figure includes over 209,000 Allied casualties, with nearly 37,000 dead amongst the ground forces and a further 16,714 deaths amongst the Allied air forces. Of the Allied casualties, 83,045 were from 21st Army Group (British, Canadian and Polish ground forces), 125,847 from the US ground forces. The losses of the German forces during the Battle of Normandy can only be estimated. Roughly 200,000 German troops were killed or wounded. The Allies also captured 200,000 prisoners of war (not included in the 425,000 total, above). During the fighting around the Falaise Pocket (August 1944) alone, the Germans suffered losses of around 90,000, including prisoners.

Today, twenty-seven war cemeteries hold the remains of over 110,000 dead from both sides: 77,866 German, 9386 American, 17,769 British, 5002 Canadian and 650 Poles.

Between 15,000 and 20,000 French civilians were killed, mainly as a result of Allied bombing. Thousands more fled their homes to escape the fighting.

OUR D-DAY GUEST OF HONOR - DUKE BOSWELL


ANOTHER CHANCE TO WIN A GUITAR






While I already gave away my guitar a VERY KIND listener donated HIS guitar to the cause of making sure we can get as many instruments into the hands of soldiers as possible. This guitar will be given away at the start of next week. Those who have already submitted a name in person, or via e-mail, or by phone are eligible to win. Prior winners or their family are not allowed to win again. Stay tuned for details.
Richard

p.s. If you have a guitar just sitting around gathering dust, please consider making a donation and a difference in a soldier's life. Just bring it to the station or leave it for me.

Thanks to all.
Richard

WINNER OF FIRST GUITAR


This is the winner of the first guitar I am giving away to those with a military connection. Her husband William is deployed in Afghanistan and she will get the guitar to him. Congrats, and may God keep you safe.
Richard

D-DAY NORMANDY LESSON PLAN - PART SEVEN


This is a note that Ike gave to all troops involved in the invasion:


SUPREME HEADQUARTERS ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY FORCE
Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!

You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of liberty loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers in arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.
Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle hardened. He will fight savagely.
But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man to man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to Victory!
I have full confidence in your courage and devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory! Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower
Order of the Day
June 6, 1944

D-DAY NORMANDY LESSON PLAN - PART SIX


The Battle of Normandy in 1944, codenamed Operation Overlord, was the invasion of Nazi occupied Western Europe by the western allies. With almost three million troops crossing the English Channel from England to Normandy in France, it still ranks as the world's largest seaborne invasion.

The operation began with overnight paratrooper landings and a massive early-morning amphibious assault. It continued over some two months with a land campaign to establish, expand, and eventually break out of the Normandy bridgehead with both the surrender of the garrison of Paris and the fall of the Chambois pocket. It remains one of the best-known battles of World War II, and in common parlance the expression D-Day is now invariably understood to refer to the D-Day (starting date) of this battle -- June 6, 1944.

The Prelude
Since the 1941 German invasion of the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa), the soviets had fought Germany alone on the European mainland. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill committed the USA and UK to opening up a "second front" in Europe to ease the desperate soviet situation, initially in 1942, and again in spring 1943.

Rather than repeat the head-on frontal assults of World War I, the British initially favored attacking the peripheries of Europe, but were pursuaded by the US to pursue a direct frontal attack across the English Channel. Two preliminary proposals were drawn up; Operation Sledgehammer for an invasion in 1942, and Operation Roundup for a larger attack in 1943, which was adopted and became Operation Overlord, although it was delayed until 1944.

The process of planning was started in earnest in January of 1943 by the staff of SHAEF.

Choice of landing site
The operating radius of the Spitfire had limited the choices of landing site. Geography had reduced the choices further to two - the Pas de Calais, and the Normandy coast. While the Pas de Calais offered the best beaches and easy access to Germany, it was (for that reason) likely to be the expected site, and the best defended. Consequently the Normandy coast was chosen. As a result of the 1942 Canadian raid on Dieppe, it was also decided not to try to capture a port by direct assault from the sea in the initial landings.

Strength of the attack
It was not until December 1943 that General Eisenhower was named as Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Force, effectively giving him overall charge of the Allied forces in Europe. In January 1944 General Montgomery was named as operational commander for the invasion ground forces.

At that stage the plan required sealanding by three divisions, with two brigades landed by air. Montgomery quickly increased the scale of the initial attack to five divisions by sea and three by air. In total, 47 divisions would be committed; 21 American, the other 26 a mixture of British, Commonwealth and free European troops.

More than 6000 vessels would be involved in the invasion under the command of Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, including 4000 landing craft and 130 warships for bombardment. 12,000 aircraft under Air Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory were to support the landings, including 1000 transports to fly in the parachute troops. 5000 tons of bombs would be dropped against the German defences.

Objectives
The objectives for the first 40 days were to:
a) create a beachhead that would include the villages of Caen and Cherbourg (for it's deep water port);
b) break out from the beachhead to liberate Brittany and it's Atlantic ports, and to advance to a line roughly 125 miles to the south east of Paris from Le Havre through Le Mans to Tours.
The three month objective was to control a zone bounded by the rivers Loire in the south and Seine in the north east.

Deception plan
In order to persuade the Germans that the invasion would really be coming to the Pas de Calais, the Allies prepared a massive deception plan, called Operation Fortitude. An entirely fictitious First US Army Group was created, with fake buildings and equipment and sending false radio messages. General Patton was even mentioned as the unit's commander. The Germans were eager to find the real landing location for themselves, and had an extensive network of agents operating throughout Southern England. Unfortunately for them, every single one had been 'turned' by the Allies, and was dutifully sending back messages confirming the Pas de Calais as the likely attack point. To keep the pretence running for as long as possible, the decption was continued into the battle, with air attacks on radar and other installations in the area.

Special preparations
Some of the more unusual preparations by the Allies included armoured vehicles specially adapted for the assault. Developed under the leadership of Major General Percy Hobart these vehicles included 'swimming' Duplex Drive Sherman tanks, mine clearing tanks (the Sherman Crab, a normal Sherman tank with a flail sticking out on the front that destroyed all mines without damage to the tank), bridge laying tanks and road laying tanks. The plan also called for the construction of two artificial Mulberry Harbours.

German response
In November 1943, when Hitler decided that the threat of invasion in France could no longer be ignored, Erwin Rommel was appointed Inspector of Coastal Defences, and later commander of Army Group B, the ground forces charged with the defense of Northern France. Rommel was of the firm belief that the only way to defeat an invasion was to counterattack the beaches as early as possible with armour, and wanted at least some armour placed close enough to the beaches to deliver an immediate counterattack. However his commander disagreed, and in resolving the dispute Hitler split the six available Panzer divisions in Northern France, allocated three directly to Rommel. The remaining three were placed a good distance back from the beaches, and could not be released without the direct approval of Hitler's operations staff. The air defences of the North French coast comprised just 169 fighter aircraft.

The Plan
The order of battle was approximately as follows, East to West:

British 6th Airborne Division and 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, airlanded by parachute and glider East of the River Orne to protect the left flank.
1 Special Service Brigade comprising No. 3, No. 4, No. 6 and No. 45(RM) Commandos landed at Ouistreham in Queen Red sector (left most). No. 4 Commando were augmented by 1 Troop and 8 Troop (both French) of No.10 (Inter Allied) Commando.
British 3rd Infantry Division and the 27th Armoured Brigade on Sword Beach, from Ouistreham to Lion.
No. 41(RM) Commando (part of 4 Special Service Brigade together with Nos. 46(RM), 47(RM) and 48(RM) Commandos), landed on the far right of Sword Beach.
Canadian 3rd Infantry Division, 2nd Armoured Brigade and No.48 (RM) Commando on Juno Beach, from St Aubin to La Riviere.
No. 46(RM) Commando at Juno to scale the cliffs on the left side of the River Orne estuary and destroy a battery. (Battery fire proved negligible so No. 46 were kept off-shore as a floating reserve and landed D+1).
British 50th Division and 8th Armoured Brigade on Gold Beach, from La Riviere to Arromanches.
No. 47(RM) Commando on the West flank of Gold beach.
US V Corps (US 1st Infantry Division and US 29th Infantry Division) on Omaha Beach, from St. Hondrine to Vierville sur Mer.
US 2nd Ranger Batallion at Pointe du Hoc.
US VII Corps (US 4th Infantry Division plus others) on Utah Beach, around Pouppevile and La Madeleine.
US 101st Airborne Division by parachute around Vierville.
US 82nd Airborne Division by parachute around Sainte-Mère-Église, protecting the right flank.
Activities by the French resistance forces, the Maquis, helped disrupt Axis lines of communications.
The foreshore area had been extensively fortified by the Germans as part of their Atlantic Wall defences, causing the landings to be timed for low tide. It was guarded by 4 divisions, of which only one (352) was of high quality. Many others included Germans who (usually for medical reasons) were not considered suitable for active duty on the Eastern Front, and other nationalities (mainly Russians) who had agreed to fight for the Germans rather than endure a prisoner of war camp. The 21st Panzer division guarded Caen, and the 12th SS Panzer division was stationed to the south-east. Its soldiers had all been recruited directly from the Hitler Youth movement at the age of sixteen in 1943, and it was to acquire a reputation for ferocity in the coming battle. Some of the area behind Utah beach had been flooded by the Germans as a precaution against parachute assault.

Prior to the battle, the Allies had carefully mapped and tested the landing area, paying particular attention to weather conditions in the English Channel. A full moon was required both for light and for the spring tide. D-Day for the operation was originally set for June 5, 1944, but bad weather forced a postponement. The weather on June 6 was still marginal, but General Eisenhower chose not to wait for the next full moon. This decision helped catch the German forces off-guard, as they did not expect an attack in such conditions - so much so that on June 4 Rommel returned to Germany for his wife's 50th birthday.

The Landings
Pegasus bridge
The British 6th Airborne Division were the first troops to go into action, at ten minutes past midnight. Their objectives were Pegasus Bridge and others on the rivers at the East flank of the landing area, and also a gun battery at Merville (see Operation Tonga). The guns were destroyed, and the bridges were captured and held until the Commandos relieved them late on the 6th June.

Ouistreham
No.4 Commando went ashore led by the French Troops as agreed amongst themselves. The Troops had separate targets in Ouistreham, the French a blockhouse and the Casino and the British two batteries which overlooked the beach. The blockhouse proved too strong for the Commando's PIAT (Projector Infantry Anti Tank) guns but the Casino was taken with the aid of a Centaur tank. The British Commandos achieved both battery objectives only to find the gun mounts empty and the guns removed. Leaving the mopping-up procedure to the infantry, the Commandos withdrew from Ouistreham to join the other members of 1 SS Brigade (Nos.3, 6 and 45), in moving inland to join-up with the 6th Airborne.

Sword beach
On Sword beach the British got ashore with light casualties. However they failed to make the progress expected after that, and had advanced about five miles by the end of the day. In particular Caen, a major objective, was still in German hands by the end of D-Day.

Juno beach
The Canadians, on Juno beach, suffered heavy casualties in the initial landings, the highest on any of the beaches after Omaha. Despite this, many forces were able to get off the beaches quickly, and begin advancing south. One Canadian Brigade has the distinction of being the only Allied unit to meet its June 6th objectives.

Gold beach
At Gold the casualties were also quite heavy, partly because the swimming Sherman tanks were delayed, and the Germans had strongly fortified a village on the beach. However the 50th division overcame its difficulties and advanced almost to the outskirts of Bayeux by the end of the day. None got closer to their planned objectives.

No.47(RM) Commando were the last British Commandos to land and came ashore on Gold east of Le Hamel. Their task was to proceed inland then turn right (west) and make a ten mile march through enemy territory to attack the coastal harbour of Port en Bessin from the rear. This small port on the British extreme right, was well sheltered in the chalk cliffs. The special significance of this little port is that it was to be the point at which the Allies undersea fuel pipe PLUTO, (Pipe Line Under The Ocean), was to come ashore.

Omaha beach
On Omaha beach the US 1st Infantry were undergoing the worst ordeals of the landings. Their swimming Sherman tanks had been mostly lost before reaching shore. Their opposition, the 352nd Division, were some of the best trained on the beaches, and occupied positions on steep cliffs overlooking the beach. The official record stated that "Within 10 minutes of the ramps being lowered, [the leading] company had become inert, leaderless and almost incapable of action. Every officer and sergeant had been killed or wounded...It had become a struggle for survival and rescue". The division lost over 4000 casualties. Despite this the survivors regrouped and pressed inland.

The massive concrete clifftop gun emplacement at Pointe du Hoc was the target of the US 2nd Ranger battalion. Their task was to scale the 100 metre cliffs under enemy fire with ropes and ladders, and then attack and destroy the guns, which were thought to command the Omaha and Utah landing areas. The emplacement was successfully reached, and the guns which had been moved out (probably during the preceding bombardment) were found and destroyed. The casualty rate for the landing troops was nearly fifty percent.

Utah beach
By contrast, casualties on Utah beach were 197 out of around 23,000 landed, the lightest of any beach. They too pressed inland and succeeded in linking up with parts of the airlanded divisions.

Vierville & Sainte-Mère-Église
The 82nd and 101st Airborne had been less lucky. Partly due to inexperienced piloting and partly due to the difficulty of the terrain they had landed badly scattered. Some fell in the sea or deliberately flooded areas. After 24 hours only 3000 of the 101st had rallied. Many continued to roam and fight behind enemy lines for days. The 82nd occupied the town of Sainte-Mère-Église for a time in the early morning of June 6th, giving it the claim to be the first town liberated in the invasion.

Mulberry harbours
Once the beachhead was established, two artificial Mulberry Harbours were towed across the English Channel in segments. One was constructed at Arromanches, the other at Omaha Beach. The Omaha harbour was destroyed in severe storms around D+10. Around 9,000 tons of materiel was landed daily at the Arromanches harbour until the end of August, by which time the ports of Antwerp and Cherbourg had been secured by the Allies, and had begun to return to service.

German reaction
The German defenders positioned on the beaches put up relatively light resistance, being ill-trained and short on transport and equipment, and having been subject to a week of intense bombardment. The exception was the 352nd Infantry division, which defended Omaha beach, and the tenacity of their defence was responsible for the high casualty rate there. The German commanders took several hours to be sure that the reports they were receiving indicated a landing in force, rather than a series of raids. Their communication difficulties were made worse by the absence of several key commanders. The scattering of the American parachutists also added to the confusion, as reports were coming in of Allied troops all over northern Normandy.

Despite this the 21st Panzer division mounted a concerted counter attack, between Sword and Juno beaches, and nearly succeeded in reaching the sea. Stiff resistance by anti-tank gunners, and fear lest they be cut off caused them to withdraw before the end of 6th June. According to some reports the sighting of a wave of airlanded troops flying over them was instrumental in the decision to retreat.

After the Landings
The Allied invasion plans had called for the capture of Caen and Bayeux on the first day, with all the beaches linked except Utah, and a front line six to ten miles from the beaches. In practice none of these had been achieved. However overall the casualites had not been as heavy as some had feared (around 10,000 compared to the 20,000 feared by Churchill), and the bridgeheads had withstood the expected counterattacks.

The visitor to Normandy today will find many reminders of June 6th, 1944. Most noticeable are the beaches, which are still referred to on maps and signposts by their invasion codenames. Then come the vast cemeteries, row on row of identical white crosses and Stars of David, immaculately kept, commemorating the Allied dead. Streets near the beaches are still named after the units that fought there, and occasional markers commemorate notable incidents. At significant points such as Pointe du Hoc and Pegasus Bridge, there are plaques, memorials or small museums. The Mulberry harbour still sits in the sea at Arromanches. In St Mere Eglise a dummy paratrooper hangs from the church spire. On Juno Beach the Canadian government plans to build a massive memorial and information centre, commemorating one of the most significant events in Canadian military history. Nobody in the area is going to forget Operation Overlord for a long time.

D-DAY NORMANDY LESSON PLAN - PART FIVE




Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial
American Battle Monuments Commission
Source: American Battle Monuments Commission
View of the cemetery from the memorial.
Used for those deceased 1941 - 1945
Established June 8, 1944
Location near Colleville-sur-Mer, France
Total burials 9,387
Unknown burials 307
Burials by nation
United States: 9,387
Burials by war
World War II: 9,386 World War I: 1

The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial is a World War II cemetery and memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, France, that honors American soldiers who died in Europe during World War II.


On June 8, 1944, the U.S. First Army established the temporary cemetery, the first American cemetery on European soil in World War II. After the war, the present-day cemetery was established a short distance to the East of the original site.
Like all other overseas American cemeteries in France for World War I and II, France has granted the United States a special, perpetual concession to the land occupied by the cemetery, free of any charge or any tax. This cemetery is managed by the American government, under Congressional acts that provide yearly financial support for maintaining them, with most military and civil personnel employed abroad. The U.S. flag flies over these granted soils.

The cemetery is located on a bluff overlooking Omaha Beach (one of the landing beaches of the Normandy Invasion) and the English Channel. It covers 70 ha (172 acres), and contains the remains of 9,387 American military dead, most of whom were killed during the invasion of Normandy and ensuing military operations in World War II. Included are graves of Army Air Corps crews shot down over France as early as 1942.

Only some of the soldiers who died overseas are buried in the overseas American military cemeteries. When it came time for a permanent burial, the next of kin eligible to make decisions were asked if they wanted their loved ones repatriated for permanent burial in the U.S., or interred at the closest overseas cemetery.

The Memorial
The names of 1,557 Americans who lost their lives in the conflict but could not be located and/or identified are inscribed on the walls of a semicircular garden at the east side of the memorial. This part consists of a semicircular colonnade with a loggia at each end containing maps and narratives of the military operations. At the center is a bronze statue entitled Spirit of American Youth. Facing west at the memorial, one sees in the foreground the reflecting pool, the mall with burial areas to either side and the circular chapel beyond. Behind the chapel are statues representing the United States and France. An orientation table overlooks the beach and depicts the landings at Normandy.

Notable interments
Grave marker of Medal of Honor recipient Jimmie W. Monteith.
Among the burials at the cemetery are three recipients of the Medal of Honor, including Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., son of President Theodore Roosevelt. After the creation of the cemetery, another son of President Roosevelt, Quentin, who had been killed in World War I, was exhumed and reburied next to his brother Theodore, Jr.
Notable burials at the cemetery include:
Lesley J. McNair, U.S. Army general, one of the two highest-ranking Americans to be killed in action in World War II
Jimmie W. Monteith, Medal of Honor recipient
Two of the Niland brothers, Preston and Robert
Frank D. Peregory, Medal of Honor recipient
Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., son of President Theodore Roosevelt, Medal of Honor recipient
Quentin Roosevelt, son of President Theodore Roosevelt, aviator killed in action in World War I

The cemetery is featured in the beginning of Steven Spielberg's 1998 film Saving Private Ryan. A World War II veteran, accompanied by his family, makes his way to the grave of Captain John Miller (played by Tom Hanks) and segues into the movie's opening battle sequence, the D-Day landing at Omaha Beach. The grave does not actually exist; the headstone for Miller was only brought to the cemetery for the movie. The Captain John Miller portrayed in the movie never existed, but the Private Ryan story is based upon the story of the Niland Brothers, two of whom are buried in the cemetery.

D-DAY NORMANDY LESSON PLAN - PART FOUR


President Bush Commemorates Memorial Day at Normandy
Remarks by the President in Memorial Day Commemoration
The Normandy American Cemetery
Colleville-Sur-Mer, France

PRESIDENT BUSH: Mr. President and Mrs. Chirac; Secretary Powell and Secretary Principi; members of the United States Congress; members of the American Armed Services; veterans; family members; fellow Americans; and friends: We have gathered on this quiet corner of France as the sun rises on Memorial Day in the United States of America. This is a day our country has set apart to remember what was gained in our wars, and all that was lost.

Our wars have won for us every hour we live in freedom. Our wars have taken from us the men and women we honor today, and every hour of the lifetimes they had hoped to live.

This day of remembrance was first observed to recall the terrible casualties of the war Americans fought against each other. In the nearly 14 decades since, our nation's battles have all been far from home. Here on the continent of Europe were some of the fiercest of those battles, the heaviest losses, and the greatest victories.

And in all those victories American soldiers came to liberate, not to conquer. The only land we claim as our own are the resting places of our men and women.

More than 9,000 are buried here, and many times that number have -- of fallen soldiers lay in our cemeteries across Europe and America. From a distance, surveying row after row of markers, we see the scale and heroism and sacrifice of the young. We think of units sustaining massive casualties, men cut down crossing a beach, or taking a hill, or securing a bridge. We think of many hundreds of sailors lost in their ships.

The war correspondent, Ernie Pyle, told of a British officer walking across the battlefield just after the violence had ended. Seeing the bodies of American boys scattered everywhere, the officer said, in sort of a hushed eulogy spoken only to himself, "Brave men, brave men."

All who come to a place like this feel the enormity of the loss. Yet, for so many, there is a marker that seems to sit alone -- they come looking for that one cross, that one Star of David, that one name. Behind every grave of a fallen soldier is a story of the grief that came to a wife, a mother, a child, a family, or a town.

A World War II orphan has described her family's life after her father was killed on a field in Germany. "My mother," she said, "had lost everything she was waiting for. She lost her dreams. There were an awful lot of perfect linen tablecloths in our house that never got used, so many things being saved for a future that was never to be."

Each person buried here understood his duty, but also dreamed of going back home to the people and the things he knew. Each had plans and hopes of his own, and parted with them forever when he died.

The day will come when no one is left who knew them, when no visitor to this cemetery can stand before a grave remembering a face and a voice. The day will never come when America forgets them. And our nation and the world will always remember what they did here, and what they gave here for the future of humanity.

As dawn broke during the invasion, a little boy in the village off of Gold Beach called out to his mother, "Look, the sea is black with boats." Spread out before them and over the horizon were more than 5,000 ships and landing craft. In the skies were some of the 12,000 planes sent on the first day of Operation Overlord. The Battle of Normandy would last many days, but June 6th, 1944, was the crucial day.

The late President, Francois Mitterrand, said that nothing in history compares to D-day. "The 6th of June," he observed, "sounded the hour when history tipped toward the camp of freedom." Before dawn, the first paratroopers already had been dropped inland. The story is told of a group of French women finding Americans and imploring them not to leave. The trooper said, "We're not leaving. If necessary, this is the place we die."

Units of Army Rangers on shore, in one of history's bravest displays, scaled cliffs directly in the gunfire, never relenting even as comrades died all around them. When they had reached the top, the Rangers radioed back the code for success: "Praise the Lord."

Only a man who is there, charging out of a landing craft, can know what it was like. For the entire liberating force, there was only the ground in front of them -- no shelter, no possibility of retreat. They were part of the largest amphibious landing in history, and perhaps the only great battle in which the wounded were carried forward. Survivors remember the sight of a Catholic chaplain, Father Joe Lacey, lifting dying men out of the water, and comforting and praying with them. Private Jimmy Hall was seen carrying the body of his brother, Johnny, saying, "He can't, he can't be dead. I promised Mother I'd look after him."

Such was the size of the Battle of Normandy. Thirty-eight pairs of brothers died in the liberation, including Bedford and Raymond Hoback of Virginia, both who fell on D-Day. Raymond's body was never found. All he left behind was his Bible, discovered in the sand. Their mother asked that Bedford be buried here, as well, in the place Raymond was lost, so her sons would always be together.

On Memorial Day, America honors her own. Yet we also remember all the valiant young men and women from many allied nations, including France, who shared in the struggle here, and in the suffering. We remember the men and women who served and died alongside Americans in so many terrible battles on this continent, and beyond.

Words can only go so far in capturing the grief and sense of loss for the families of those who died in all our wars. For some military families in America and in Europe, the grief is recent, with the losses we have suffered in Afghanistan. They can know, however, that the cause is just and, like other generations, these sacrifices have spared many others from tyranny and sorrow.

Long after putting away his uniform, an American GI expressed his own pride in the truth about all who served, living and dead. He said, "I feel like I played my part in turning this from a century of darkness into a century of light."

Here, where we stand today, the new world came back to liberate the old. A bond was formed of shared trial and shared victory. And a light that scattered darkness from these shores and across France would spread to all of Europe -- in time, turning enemies into friends, and the pursuits of war into the pursuits of peace. Our security is still bound up together in a transatlantic alliance, with soldiers in many uniforms defending the world from terrorists at this very hour.

The grave markers here all face west, across an ageless and indifferent ocean to the country these men and women served and loved. The thoughts of America on this Memorial Day turn to them and to all their fallen comrades in arms. We think of them with lasting gratitude; we miss them with lasting love; and we pray for them. And we trust in the words of the Almighty God, which are inscribed in the chapel nearby: "I give unto them eternal life, that they shall never perish."

God bless. (Applause.)

D-DAY NORMANDY LESSON PLAN - PART THREE


This is President Roosevelt's prayer, which he composed himself and delivered on the radio on the evening of D-Day.

Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our Allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.
And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest--until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home--fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas, whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them--help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too--strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keeness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment--let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace--a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God.

Amen.

Franklin D. Roosevelt--June 6, 1944

D-DAY NORMANDY LESSON PLAN - PART TWO



The letter Ike never had to use... Thank God.

"Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based on the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone."

Anything can happen in war. "Operation Overlord", the landings at Normandy were NOT guaranteed to succeed.

Hundreds of thousands of troops from the United States, Great Britain, France,Canada, and other nations were assembled in southern England and intensively trained for the complicated amphibious action against Normandy. In addition to the troops, supplies, ships, and planes were also gathered. Countless details about weather, topography, and the German forces in France had to be learned before Overlord could be launched in 1944.

General Eisenhower's experience and the Allied troops' preparations were finally put to the test on the morning of June 6, 1944. An invasion force of 4,000 ships, 11,000 planes, and nearly three million soldiers, marines, airmen, and sailors was assembled in England for the assault. Eisenhower's doubts about success in the face of a highly-defended and well-prepared enemy led him to consider what would happen if the invasion of Normandy failed. If the Allies did not secure a strong foothold on D-Day, they would be ordered into a full retreat, and he would be forced to make public the message he drafted for such an occasion.

As the attack began, Allied troops did confront formidable obstacles. Germany had thousands of soldiers dug into bunkers, defended by artillery, mines, tangled barbed wire, machine guns, and other hazards to prevent landing craft from coming ashore. Document 3 featured with this lesson shows some of the ferocity of the attack they faced. About 4,900 U.S. troops were killed on D-Day, but by the end of the day 155,000 Allied troops were ashore and in control of 80 square miles of the French coast. Eisenhower's letter was not needed, because D-Day was a success, opening Europe to the Allies and a German surrender less than a year later.

D-Day Normandy Lesson Plan - Part one


THE FOLLOWING IS A TRANSCRIPT OF PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN'S REMARKS AT THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF D-DAY DELIVERED JUNE 6TH 1984 AT POINTE DU HOC, NORMANDY, FRANCE.

We're here to mark that day in history when the Allied armies joined in battle to reclaim this continent to liberty. For four long years, much of Europe had been under a terrible shadow. Free nations had fallen, Jews cried out in the camps, millions cried out for liberation. Europe was enslaved and the world prayed for its rescue. Here, in Normandy, the rescue began. Here, the Allies stood and fought against tyranny, in a giant undertaking unparalleled in human history.

We stand on a lonely, windswept point on the northern shore of France. The air is soft, but forty years ago at this moment, the air was dense with smoke and the cries of men, and the air was filled with the crack of rifle fire and the roar of cannon. At dawn, on the morning of the 6th of June, 1944, two hundred and twenty-five Rangers jumped off the British landing craft and ran to the bottom of these cliffs.

Their mission was one of the most difficult and daring of the invasion: to climb these sheer and desolate cliffs and take out the enemy guns. The Allies had been told that some of the mightiest of these guns were here, and they would be trained on the beaches to stop the Allied advance.

The Rangers looked up and saw the enemy soldiers at the edge of the cliffs, shooting down at them with machine guns and throwing grenades. And the American Rangers began to climb. They shot rope ladders over the face of these cliffs and began to pull themselves up. When one Ranger fell, another would take his place. When one rope was cut, a Ranger would grab another and begin his climb again. They climbed, shot back, and held their footing. Soon, one by one, the Rangers pulled themselves over the top, and in seizing the firm land at the top of these cliffs, they began to seize back the continent of Europe. Two hundred and twenty-five came here. After two days of fighting, only ninety could still bear arms.

And behind me is a memorial that symbolizes the Ranger daggers that were thrust into the top of these cliffs. And before me are the men who put them there. These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. And these are the heroes who helped end a war. Gentlemen, I look at you and I think of the words of Stephen Spender's poem. You are men who in your "lives fought for life and left the vivid air signed with your honor."

I think I know what you may be thinking right now -- thinking "we were just part of a bigger effort; everyone was brave that day." Well everyone was. Do you remember the story of Bill Millin of the 51st Highlanders? Forty years ago today, British troops were pinned down near a bridge, waiting desperately for help. Suddenly, they heard the sound of bagpipes, and some thought they were dreaming. Well, they weren't. They looked up and saw Bill Millin with his bagpipes, leading the reinforcements and ignoring the smack of the bullets into the ground around him.

Lord Lovat was with him -- Lord Lovat of Scotland, who calmly announced when he got to the bridge, "Sorry, I'm a few minutes late," as if he'd been delayed by a traffic jam, when in truth he'd just come from the bloody fighting on Sword Beach, which he and his men had just taken.

There was the impossible valor of the Poles, who threw themselves between the enemy and the rest of Europe as the invasion took hold; and the unsurpassed courage of the Canadians who had already seen the horrors of war on this coast. They knew what awaited them there, but they would not be deterred. And once they hit Juno Beach, they never looked back.

All of these men were part of a roll call of honor with names that spoke of a pride as bright as the colors they bore; The Royal Winnipeg Rifles, Poland's 24th Lancers, the Royal Scots' Fusiliers, the Screaming Eagles, the Yeomen of England's armored divisions, the forces of Free France, the Coast Guard's "Matchbox Fleet," and you, the American Rangers.

Forty summers have passed since the battle that you fought here. You were young the day you took these cliffs; some of you were hardly more than boys, with the deepest joys of life before you. Yet you risked everything here. Why? Why did you do it? What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these cliffs? What inspired all the men of the armies that met here? We look at you, and somehow we know the answer. It was faith and belief. It was loyalty and love.

The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead, or on the next. It was the deep knowledge -- and pray God we have not lost it -- that there is a profound moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt.

You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One's country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you.

The Americans who fought here that morning knew word of the invasion was spreading through the darkness back home. They fought -- or felt in their hearts, though they couldn't know in fact, that in Georgia they were filling the churches at 4:00 am. In Kansas they were kneeling on their porches and praying. And in Philadelphia they were ringing the Liberty Bell.

Something else helped the men of D-day; their rock-hard belief that Providence would have a great hand in the events that would unfold here; that God was an ally in this great cause. And so, the night before the invasion, when Colonel Wolverton asked his parachute troops to kneel with him in prayer, he told them: "Do not bow your heads, but look up so you can see God and ask His blessing in what we're about to do." Also, that night, General Matthew Ridgway on his cot, listening in the darkness for the promise God made to Joshua: "I will not fail thee nor forsake thee."

These are the things that impelled them; these are the things that shaped the unity of the Allies.

When the war was over, there were lives to be rebuilt and governments to be returned to the people. There were nations to be reborn. Above all, there was a new peace to be assured. These were huge and daunting tasks. But the Allies summoned strength from the faith, belief, loyalty, and love of those who fell here. They rebuilt a new Europe together. There was first a great reconciliation among those who had been enemies, all of whom had suffered so greatly. The United States did its part, creating the Marshall Plan to help rebuild our allies and our former enemies. The Marshall Plan led to the Atlantic alliance -- a great alliance that serves to this day as our shield for freedom, for prosperity, and for peace.

In spite of our great efforts and successes, not all that followed the end of the war was happy or planned. Some liberated countries were lost. The great sadness of this loss echoes down to our own time in the streets of Warsaw, Prague, and East Berlin. The Soviet troops that came to the center of this continent did not leave when peace came. They're still there, uninvited, unwanted, unyielding, almost forty years after the war. Because of this, allied forces still stand on this continent. Today, as forty years ago, our armies are here for only one purpose: to protect and defend democracy. The only territories we hold are memorials like this one and graveyards where our heroes rest.

We in America have learned bitter lessons from two world wars. It is better to be here ready to protect the peace, than to take blind shelter across the sea, rushing to respond only after freedom is lost. We've learned that isolationism never was and never will be an acceptable response to tyrannical governments with an expansionist intent. But we try always to be prepared for peace, prepared to deter aggression, prepared to negotiate the reduction of arms, and yes, prepared to reach out again in the spirit of reconciliation. In truth, there is no reconciliation we would welcome more than a reconciliation with the Soviet Union, so, together, we can lessen the risks of war, now and forever.

It's fitting to remember here the great losses also suffered by the Russian people during World War II. Twenty million perished, a terrible price that testifies to all the world the necessity of ending war. I tell you from my heart that we in the United States do not want war. We want to wipe from the face of the earth the terrible weapons that man now has in his hands. And I tell you, we are ready to seize that beachhead. We look for some sign from the Soviet Union that they are willing to move forward, that they share our desire and love for peace, and that they will give up the ways of conquest. There must be a changing there that will allow us to turn our hope into action.

We will pray forever that someday that changing will come. But for now, particularly today, it is good and fitting to renew our commitment to each other, to our freedom, and to the alliance that protects it.

We're bound today by what bound us 40 years ago, the same loyalties, traditions, and beliefs. We're bound by reality. The strength of America's allies is vital to the United States, and the American security guarantee is essential to the continued freedom of Europe's democracies. We were with you then; we're with you now. Your hopes are our hopes, and your destiny is our destiny.

Here, in this place where the West held together, let us make a vow to our dead. Let us show them by our actions that we understand what they died for. Let our actions say to them the words for which Matthew Ridgway listened: "I will not fail thee nor forsake thee."

Strengthened by their courage and heartened by their value [valor] and borne by their memory, let us continue to stand for the ideals for which they lived and died.

Thank you very much, and God bless you all.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

GIVING ONE OF MY GUITARS TO SOMEONE IN MILITARY... JOIN ME







On Friday, June 3rd, I will announce the winner of the the Black Yamaha acoustic guitar that I am giving to someone with a military connection. After watching the movie "Restrepo" I decided I wanted to say thanks to those serving our country. In the film several soldiers are seen playing guitar in an outpost in Afghanistan. I know when I play guitar it is relaxing and can be a break from a stressful day. I you or someone you know has a military connection (active duty, guard, reserve, vet) please call my producer Chris 540-0740 or send me an e-mail at Richard@kvor.com. The response to this idea has been so overwhelming that I would like any listeners who have a guitar just sitting in a closet to donate it to this cause. I would love to be able to make several military families happy. Please join me.