63 Years Ago Today

[davedove]

Let us all pause for a moment today to remember the brave souls who stormed the beaches of Normandy 63 years ago today, June 6, 1944. Many gave their lives and all saw horrors no one should have to see.

[cessna152towser]

Thinking of the fallen today. I am planning to attend the annual D-Day commemoration at the Royal Air Force museum at Cosford next Sunday.

[gangreenfootball]

Always remember & never forget

[McMurdo]

Thank you for posting this, I will be going to our city hall this afternoon for the ceremony at noon.

[majdan]

Lest we Forget

[Cawdorian]

On my way to to work the radio announcer noted today was the anniversary of D-Day, I immediately thought of one of my older cousins who hit the beach on D-Day, he earned his first Purple Heart before he got out of the water. He lived to tell about the experience. He is one our family heros.

[BEEDEE]

They shall grow not old,
As we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them,
Nor the years condemn,
At the going down of the sun
And in the morning
We will remember them.

-- Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)

Brian

[RK-REX]

Everyday should be a day we remember and thank those who served our Country or on behalf of it.

This is not exactly about D-Day, but I think this is applicable to any fight in which men suffer and die, win or lose. I always get chills up my spine and get a little choked up when I listen to this song especially in the end when the pipes play. I'm sure you'll get the same feeling because this video makes the words mean all that much more.



The lyrics in case you'd like to read them:

"The Green Fields Of France"
By: The Dropkick Murphys
(Originally by Eric Bogle)

oh how do you do, young willy mcbride
do you mind if i sit here down by your graveside
and rest for a while in the warm summer sun
i've been walking all day, and im nearly done
and i see by your gravestone you were only nineteen
when you joined the great fallen in 1916
well i hope you died quick
and i hope you died clean
oh willy mcbride, was is it slow and obscene

Chorus:
did they beat the drums slowly
did they play the fife lowly
did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
did the band play the last post and chorus
did the pipes play the flowers of the forest

and did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind
in some loyal heart is your memory enshrined
and though you died back in 1916
to that loyal heart you're forever nineteen
or are you a stranger without even a name
forever enshrined behind some old glass pane
in an old photograph torn, tattered, and stained
and faded to yellow in a brown leather frame

Chorus:
did they beat the drums slowly
did they play the fife lowly
did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
did the band play the last post and chorus
did the pipes play the flowers of the forest

the sun shining down on these green fields of france
the warm wind blows gently and the red poppies dance
the trenches have vanished long under the plow
no gas, no barbed wire, no guns firing now
but here in this graveyard that's still no mans land
the countless white crosses in mute witness stand
till' man's blind indifference to his fellow man
and a whole generation were butchered and damned

Chorus:
did they beat the drums slowly
did they play the fife lowly
did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
did the band play the last post and chorus
did the pipes play the flowers of the forest

and i can't help but wonder oh willy mcbride
do all those who lie here know why they died
did you really believe them when they told you the cause
did you really believe that this war would end wars
well the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame
the killing and dying it was all done in vain
oh willy mcbride it all happened again
and again, and again, and again, and again

Chorus:
did they beat the drums slowly
did they play the fife lowly
did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
did the band play the last post and chorus
did the pipes play the flowers of the forest

[pdcorlis]

With deepest respect for their honor, duty, and sacrifice.

[TimC]

'Tis with bowed head and swollen throat, all he could must was a soft, "Thank you..."'


-Tim