It was 62 years ago that US Rangers stormed the cliffs of Pointe Du Hoc near Omaha Beach. And as the veterans of that day grow oh so gray and bent, mere shadows of the lithe and limber youths who pulled themselves up the jagged bluffs, one hand over another, their comrades falling all about them, we are reminded that the word “courage” came alive that day.
Too often, we use that word in a base and cavalier way. A Hollywood movie star has “courage” because she revealed to the world that she’s a drug addict. A comic has “courage” because he made fun of the President of the United States to his face. A filmaker has “courage” because he made millions of dollars shooting a “documentary” which shows the US government complicit in the mass murder on 9/11.
And so instead of “courage” being a word with inexpressible significance and meaning beyond its simple definition, it has become a self congratulatory epithet, a hollowed out expression of empty promise and insincerity. Today, the purveyors of myth and shapers of opinion use the word to tell the rest of us who to admire and what to respect. No longer does courage imply sacrifice or a willingness to give all that one has for a cause greater than oneself. Instead, courage defines the selfish desires and overwrought egos of an ideology that sees more irony in the word than reverence.
All of this was in the future 62 years ago when the Rangers lived the word courage by taking the bluffs above the beach. And a short distance away at Omaha, Americans were dying, never knowing that their sacrifice was redefining the word courage for all time. For in their last bloody moments on earth, a titanic struggle was taking place between good and evil that 10,000 years from now, poets will still be singing songs and human beings will still be shaking their heads at in wonder and awestruck disbelief.
It takes genuine courage to confront evil. By its very nature, evil must defend itself by lashing out and destroying anything that attempts to get in its path, lest it perish ignominiously. Those representing good realize this which makes the confrontation between good and evil always a life threatening proposition and thus, an exercise in self-denial and sacrifice. The Rangers on the bluffs and the men in transports speeding toward bloody Omaha that terrible day 62 years ago knew full well what they were in for. They were willing to pay the price to defeat evil.
There were more than 700 war ships on the waters of Normandy that day, firepower never before seen on the open ocean. The men would be landing with tanks and guns and grenades and enough explosives to blow up a small town. But their most potent weapon by far was the courage to face their foes in open combat with the full knowledge that doing so was likely to get them killed. We ask ourselves quite properly, would I have been capable of such a feat? The answer will likely tell us much about ourselves.
Because in those last frantic minutes before hitting the beach, as grown men wept and prayed and steeled themselves for the supreme test of their young lives, they must have found something deep within themselves, something they could mentally and emotionally grasp and hold onto so real and palpable it must have been. What was it? An image of their family? A remembrance of love and closeness that wrapped itself around them and made them feel safe? Or perhaps it was the simple recognition of the here and now with a sublime faith that He that arbitrates our fate has placed me in His keeping and if these be my last moments, let them be meaningful ones.
Whatever rushed thoughts were coursing through their minds as they splashed ashore under some of the most intense combat ever experienced by American fighting men, their courage allowed them to disobey the most primal of instincts to flee for safety and walk into the teeth of the enemy’s fire. And then, the supreme test. Historian Stephen Ambrose:
They were getting butchered where they were all the sea wall because the Germans had it all zeroed in with their mortars that were coming down on top of them. And, “Over here, Captain,” “Over here, Lieutenant, over here.” A sergeant looked at this situation and said, “The hell with this. If I’m going to get killed, I’m going to take some Germans with me.” And he would call out, “Follow me,” and up he would start. Hitler didn’t believe this was ever possible. Hitler was certain that the soft, effeminate children of democracy could never become soldiers. Hitler was certain that the Nazi youth would always outfight the Boy Scouts, and Hitler was wrong.The Boy Scouts took them on D-Day. Joe Dawson led Company G. He started off with 200 men. He got to the top of the bluff with 20 men, but he got to the top. He was the first one to get there. He’s going to be introducing President Clinton tomorrow at Omaha Beach. John Spaulding was another. He was a lieutenant. Many of them are nameless. I don’t know their names. I’ve talked to men who’ve said, “I saw this lieutenant and he tossed a grenade into the embrasure of that fortification, and out came four Germans with their hands up. I thought to myself, hell, if he can do that, I can do that.” “What was his name?” I will ask. “Geez, I don’t know. I never found out his name. I never saw him before, and I never saw him again, but he was a great man. He got me up that bluff.”
“Unknown but to God” and history, I suspect. In the end, whatever gave them the inner strength to keep going in the face of such murderous opposition, it was as inspirational then as it is today.
It is fitting and proper that we remember their courage today, the young men who lived and died the word courage. But we must also question ourselves about our commitment to that memory. Does it have meaning beyond the misty eyed reminisces of old men? Can we still summon forth the will to perform great deeds in a cause that reaches far beyond our narrow little corner of planet earth in which we live and love and die?
At the moment, the answer to that last question is unknown. But I daresay the fate of the nation rests upon a positive response. For unless we are willing to propel ourselves beyond our own selfish, comfortable existence and find the strength to confront the evil that seeks to destroy us, we are more likely to end up a victim of our own hubris rather than triumphant with the knowledge that we, like the men of D-Day, brought to life the word courage and made it once again something to be lived and felt in our hearts, ever mindful of the sacrifice of those who came before us.
8:03 am
[...] Don’t forget. BC and Moran didn’t. [...]
8:59 am
D Day 2006
(Video by Jaquel)
As the Damien jokes fly, it’s easy to forget that 62 years ago 3 million allied troops stormed the French beaches in the largest invasion in the history of the world. With 53,700 dead, 18,000 missing and 155,000 wounded, our f…
10:02 am
666? No, June 6th, 1944.
I forget this happens every year and I feel worse each time I forget. Invasion of Normandy. Hot Air with pictures, links and thoughts. Confederate Yankee with thoughts and Patton’s speech. Rightwing Nuthouse with some good stuff. Babalu Blog with…
10:37 am
Hear. Hear.
Only one thing left to do, watch or listen to President Reagan’s 40th D-Day Anniversary speech delivered 6 June 1984 in Pointe Du Hoc, Normandy, France.
10:43 am
[...] Rick Moran has the post of the day. [...]
12:15 pm
[...] Echo9er, Thoughtful Conservative, Black Five, Michelle Malkin, Right Wing Nut House [...]
12:17 pm
Thank you for the reminder that Americans are capable of great sacrifice when called upon.
12:31 pm
Tribute To Real Courage
Rick Moran has an absolutely wonderful tribute up to the very real courage that thousands of young men displayed 62 years ago today.
It was 62 years ago that US Rangers stormed the cliffs of Pointe Du Hoc near Omaha Beach. And as the veterans…
1:26 pm
June 6, 1944: Remembering D-Day
The ultimate sacrifice…
Today, we head out to the voting booths to cast our ballots for people and policies. May not always be the right decisions, but it’s our right and the exercise of our nation’s democracy.
We must never forg…
1:44 pm
[...] Right Wing Nut House » A WORD ABOUT COURAGE It was 62 years ago that US Rangers stormed the cliffs of Pointe Du Hoc near Omaha Beach. And as the veterans of that day grow oh so gray and bent, mere shadows of the lithe and limber youths who pulled themselves up the jagged bluffs, one hand over another, their comrades falling all about them, we are reminded that the word “courage†came alive that day.Too often, we use that word in a base and cavalier way. A Hollywood movie star has “courage†because she revealed to the world that she’s a drug addict. A comic has “courage†because he made fun of the President of the United States to his face. A filmaker has “courage†because he made millions of dollars shooting a “documentary†which shows the US government complicit in the mass murder on 9/11. [...]
3:00 pm
[...] Right Wing Nuthouse has what I think is the best post of the day on it. [...]
3:27 pm
No, no, no. This is not the approved curriculum.
First, you can’t mention Boy Scouts. They force children to swear an oath to God, and they discriminate against pedophiles. This matter was settled two years ago.
Second, you are not permitted to glorify war. It’s so icky and violent. Nothing good comes from violence.
Third, you failed to point out that we had no exit strategy on D-Day and did not have enough troops. This must be corrected.
Fourth, what did Germany ever do to us? They just needed some understanding and some lengthy negotiations and WWII could have been avoided. If we had only listened to Charles Lindburgh and Neville Chamberlain, all this unpleasantness could have been resolved peacefully.
Lastly, you make no connection between WWII, George Bush, and the REAL reasons he tricked us into WWII (Big Oil).
Please make the necessary corrections at once and resubmit.
6:17 pm
D-Day: Profound Sacrifice and Courage
Twelve years ago today, my wife and I, giddy newlyweds honeymooning in Paris, were witnesses to somber celebrations around le Tour Eiffel and other Parisian sites commemorating the 50th anniversary of “Jour-J” or D-Day.
...
6:55 pm
[...] Rick Moran has a thoughtful piece and it's a must-read: It was 62 years ago that US Rangers stormed the cliffs of Pointe Du Hoc near Omaha Beach. And as the veterans of that day grow oh so gray and bent, mere shadows of the lithe and limber youths who pulled themselves up the jagged bluffs, one hand over another, their comrades falling all about them, we are reminded that the word “courage” came alive that day.Too often, we use that word in a base and cavalier way. A Hollywood movie star has “courage” because she revealed to the world that she’s a drug addict. A comic has “courage” because he made fun of the President of the United States to his face. A filmaker has “courage” because he made millions of dollars shooting a “documentary” which shows the US government complicit in the mass murder on 9/11. >P?And so instead of “courage” being a word with inexpressible significance and meaning beyond its simple definition, it has become a self congratulatory epithet, a hollowed out expression of empty promise and insincerity. Today, the purveyors of myth and shapers of opinion use the word to tell the rest of us who to admire and what to respect. No longer does courage imply sacrifice or a willingness to give all that one has for a cause greater than oneself. Instead, courage defines the selfish desires and overwrought egos of an ideology that sees more irony in the word than reverence. [...]
8:54 pm
Sign of the Times
Why are so many folks thinking that today has some kind of significance beyond the fact that it marks the 62nd anniversary of D-Day? Operation Overlord? You might have heard of it – back when they were teaching history in high school.
9:39 pm
I seek out WWII vets and speak with them about their experience. Several invaded Normandy and they ALWAYS speak of the courage and bravery of the soldiers that didn’t come home before they acknowledge their own service. I’ve blogged about several of these great men. Thanks guys for saving the world from the evil of the Nazis.
10:45 pm
This was a great article. That is the reason I come to this web site. Thank you sir.
11:02 pm
[...] I want to end this post with some great words from Rick Moran : It is fitting and proper that we remember their courage today, the young men who lived and died the word courage. But we must also question ourselves about our commitment to that memory. Does it have meaning beyond the misty eyed reminisces of old men? Can we still summon forth the will to perform great deeds in a cause that reaches far beyond our narrow little corner of planet earth in which we live and love and die? [...]
12:10 am
Very nice, thank you.
1:14 am
Submitted for Your Approval
First off… any spambots reading this should immediately go here, here, here, and here. Die spambots, die! And now… here are all the links submitted by members of the Watcher’s Council for this week’s vote. Council li…
5:22 am
An excellent tribute. A generation later- we get the beloved Baby Boomers. Some of us followed the tradition of our fathers, many of us did not. We look small in comparison.
6:50 am
Actually, Neptune and Overlord are very good operations to study to realize how things go wrong in War. The Americans in particular made a large number of mistakes. Their intellegance was bad, the USarmy didn’t study what the Marines were doing in the Pacific theater and so they didn’t bombard their beaches enough, hence bloody Omaha. They dropped the amphibious tanks too far out and so most were lost (along with their highly trained crews). At Utah, they landed in the wrong place. This was very luck as where they landed was lightly defended, whereas the actual designated landing site was highly defended. The CB’s put togeather their floating harbour togeather much more quickly than the British, but not so well, and this was destroyed in the “Great Storm” some days later. Imaging the NYT story, “Allied Armies logistics networked halved.”
Finally, I would pointout that the Americans made up only about 2/5ths of the total troops, airmen and sailors, the rest was made up of British, Canadians, Poles and French.
6:59 am
Doc:
Great points as usual.
Actually, they bombed the crap out of the coast as well as loosing those 18” shells from the 15 battleships offshore. The problem was that the concrete bunkers were 3 feet thick with a low sillouette. And the air bombardment missed horribly, most bombs landing 1-2 miles inland for some reason.
Omaha would have been a total disaster if not for one or two destroyers who almost beached themselves, so close to the shore they got, and helped to silence some of those bunkers with their six inch guns firing point blank at their targets.
The tanks were tested in calm waters, hence the snafu there as the Channel was choppy as hell.
But all your points are well taken – as is your counter-factual headline from the NYT. “Blame Roosevelt!”
6:59 am
Last night I sat down to watch a pbs special on frontline surgeons during WWII,and all the advancements made that are the forefronts of modern surgery and Orthepidecs (I hope I spelled that right).The other pbs station I can pickup here showed a documentry on homosexuals and how oppressed they were in the last 50 yrs.I live 25 miles north of Austin(Let’s rename us Hillaryland and get rid of that oppressive name of a dead white man)Tx and 60 miles south of Waco and 50 miles east of Belton/Killeen(Home of FT Hood 1sr cav)Would you care to guess which pbs stations on June 6th showed which documentry?
9:02 am
[...] Right Wing Nut House,“A Word About Courage” [...]
2:13 pm
It is easy to point out errors in military operations with the advantage of 20/20 hindsight. There were missed airdrops, tanks did founder in the rough water, and the air support was less than perfect. However, the invasion was an overwhelming success. The deception plan built around Patton’s phantom army held the German reserves in place long enough to establish a foothold. The airborne troops were able to take their objectives inspite of the missed drops. And the allied soldiers demonstrated courage, initiative, and leadership by accomplishing the mission in spite of the hardships.
Military operations never go exactly according to “the plan.” There are always unexpected events, equipment failures or any number of things to disrupt the plan. Finally, most people forget that the enemy gets a vote on the outcome. You wargame against the enemy’s most likely and most dangerous course of action but sometimes he picks course of action 3.
In this case, the allied forces were up against two experienced German commanders who had time to prepare a interlocking defense with extensive obstacles, interlocking direct fire, and registered indirect fire targets. When you look at the defensive preparations the success of the operation is even more impressive!
My question, can we find enough Brits, Canadians, and Americans in our self indulgent societies to repeat this endeavor if a similar requirement arises? Do we have enough citizens left who believe there is something more important than their own self interest?
FYI - 23 years of active and reserve service.
1:51 am
The Council Has Spoken!
First off… any spambots reading this should immediately go here, here, here, and here. Die spambots, die! And now… the winning entries in the Watcher’s Council vote for this week are Abolish the “N” Word by ShrinkWr…
5:58 am
[...] The Watcher’s Council has announced its picks for the most outstanding posts of the preceding week. Votes for the winning Council post were very closely clustered this week. The winning Council post was ShrinkWrapped’s post, “Abolish the ‘N’ Wordâ€. In a three-way tie for second place were Right Wing Nut House’s post on D-Day and the debasement of the word “courage†nowadays, “A Word About Courageâ€, my own post, “The Influence of Immigrants on American Political Thoughtâ€, and Gates of Vienna’s post on the response of the Danes to the cartoon controversy, “There Is Something About the Danesâ€. [...]
9:26 am
The Council Has Spoken!
The winning Council post this week was my post Abolish the N Word which discussed some of the ongoing damage the Black community is inflicting on itself by the pervasive use of a particularly ugly term, redefined as an endearment.
7:44 am
[...] In the council category first place went to Abolish the “N” Word by ShrinkWrapped, with a rare three-way tie for second between A Word About Courage by Right Wing Nut House, The Influence of Immigrants on American Political Thought by The Glittering Eye and There Is Something About the Danes by Gates of Vienna. [...]
11:34 pm
This is one of the most impressive and believiable list of letters I have ever read. I can only add the
This is undoubtfully the best collection of post to destinguish our American and Allied troops I have ever read. I am American, 9.5 yrs AF and damn proud of my time, but very happy that I did not have to experiance what these very brave,scared,but wonderfully lead men had to do. PFC-Sgt.-Lt.-Capt. Name it. They got the job done. This is what we need to do today in Iraq and we are. Let the bed wetting leftest sink in their own slime.
God bless America and her wonderful ARMED FORCES.
Swede1
5:14 pm
[...] PUNDIT VINCE AUT MORIRE VODKAPUNDIT WALLO WORLD WIDE AWAKES WIZBANG WUZZADEM ZERO POINT BLOG THE COUNCIL HAS SPOKEN: DOUBLETHINK EDITION JOHN KERRY IS A WEASEL AMNESTY FOR SOME INSURGENTS MAY BE THE PRICE OF VICTORY ONE DAY AT A TIME“A GRAND OLD FLAG” CLASH OF THE TITANS! JASON LEOPOLD’S HEAD EXPLODES TERROR SUSPECTS CHARGE ABUSE IN VATICAN PRISON PREVIEW: TEAM USA VS. CZECH REPUBLIC GUANTANAMO SUICIDES A STAIN ON AMERICAN JUSTICE MORE INVESTIGATION, BETTER REPORTING NEEDED ON HADITHA STORY SOMETHING MISSING THIS WAY COMES LOOSE LIPS SINKING AL QAEDA IN IRAQ? WORLD CUP PREVIEW: BLAME IT ON RIO BOLTON APPLIES THE SCREWS TO THE UN SPINNING THEIR WAY TO DEFEAT IN NOVEMBER COUNTDOWN TO GERMANY: POLITICS AND SPORTS ZARQAWI DEAD: INSURGENCY LIVES UN TO UNITED STATES: CRACK DOWN ON DISSENT OR ELSE… BUSBY-BILBRAY A TEMPEST IN A TEAPOT ANN COULTER: CONSERVATIVE LOUT A WORD ABOUT COURAGE IT’S COMING…WATCH FOR IT TV NOTE: “SPACE RACE” ON NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL IRAQI GOVERNMENT FIDDLES WHILE THE COUNTRY BURNS “24″ (65) ABLE DANGER (10) Bird Flu (5) Blogging (86) Books (7) CARNIVAL OF THE CLUELESS (66) CHICAGO BEARS (9) CIA VS. THE WHITE HOUSE (24) Cindy Sheehan (12) Ethics (59) General (282) Government (43) History (57) IMMIGRATION REFORM (11) Iran (26) KATRINA (26) Katrina Timeline (4) Marvin Moonbat (14) Media (82) Middle East (24) Moonbats (47) NET NEUTRALITY (2) Open House (1) Politics (203) Science (15) Space (13) Supreme Court (19) UNITED NATIONS (1) War on Terror (116) WATCHER’S COUNCIL (47) WHITE SOX (1) Wide Awakes Radio (1) WORLD CUP (6) WORLD POLITICS (41) WORLD SERIES (14) Admin Login Register Valid XHTML XFN [...]
5:14 pm
[...] PUNDIT VINCE AUT MORIRE VODKAPUNDIT WALLO WORLD WIDE AWAKES WIZBANG WUZZADEM ZERO POINT BLOG THE COUNCIL HAS SPOKEN: DOUBLETHINK EDITION JOHN KERRY IS A WEASEL AMNESTY FOR SOME INSURGENTS MAY BE THE PRICE OF VICTORY ONE DAY AT A TIME“A GRAND OLD FLAG” CLASH OF THE TITANS! JASON LEOPOLD’S HEAD EXPLODES TERROR SUSPECTS CHARGE ABUSE IN VATICAN PRISON PREVIEW: TEAM USA VS. CZECH REPUBLIC GUANTANAMO SUICIDES A STAIN ON AMERICAN JUSTICE MORE INVESTIGATION, BETTER REPORTING NEEDED ON HADITHA STORY SOMETHING MISSING THIS WAY COMES LOOSE LIPS SINKING AL QAEDA IN IRAQ? WORLD CUP PREVIEW: BLAME IT ON RIO BOLTON APPLIES THE SCREWS TO THE UN SPINNING THEIR WAY TO DEFEAT IN NOVEMBER COUNTDOWN TO GERMANY: POLITICS AND SPORTS ZARQAWI DEAD: INSURGENCY LIVES UN TO UNITED STATES: CRACK DOWN ON DISSENT OR ELSE… BUSBY-BILBRAY A TEMPEST IN A TEAPOT ANN COULTER: CONSERVATIVE LOUT A WORD ABOUT COURAGE IT’S COMING…WATCH FOR IT TV NOTE: “SPACE RACE” ON NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL IRAQI GOVERNMENT FIDDLES WHILE THE COUNTRY BURNS “24″ (65) ABLE DANGER (10) Bird Flu (5) Blogging (86) Books (7) CARNIVAL OF THE CLUELESS (66) CHICAGO BEARS (9) CIA VS. THE WHITE HOUSE (24) Cindy Sheehan (12) Ethics (59) General (282) Government (43) History (57) IMMIGRATION REFORM (11) Iran (26) KATRINA (26) Katrina Timeline (4) Marvin Moonbat (14) Media (82) Middle East (24) Moonbats (47) NET NEUTRALITY (2) Open House (1) Politics (203) Science (15) Space (13) Supreme Court (19) UNITED NATIONS (1) War on Terror (116) WATCHER’S COUNCIL (47) WHITE SOX (1) Wide Awakes Radio (1) WORLD CUP (6) WORLD POLITICS (41) WORLD SERIES (14) Admin Login Register Valid XHTML XFN [...]
6:56 am
hello. it’s a nice day for your ideas and our money
5:37 pm
[...] Also blogging about D-Day: AllahPundit at HotAir, Rick Moran, Super Fun Power Hour, Compass Points, Baseball Crank [...]