As I write this week’s column, it is June 6th and the 80th Anniversary of D-Day. On June 6th, 1944, Allied troops landed on five French beachheads that had the code-names Omaha, Gold, Juno, Sword, and Utah. The German armies, under Adolf Hitler’s command, had been dominating the war as they took country after country in Europe. The future of the world was at risk. In Operation Overlord General Eisenhower directed the combined Allied forces from Britain, America, and Canada to penetrate the fortifications along the French Coasts of Normandy and engage and push back the enemy.

34,000 troops from America landed at Omaha Beach, which was six miles wide. They met fierce artillery and mortar fire from the clifftops above them. The more than 3000 American landing crafts couldn’t go all the way to the beach due to mines and metal obstacles, so our boys had to wade through waist high water, carrying their weapons and ammo, while being bombarded by artillery, mortars and machine guns. The only cover on the beaches was the metal anti-tank and anti-vehicle obstructions embedded in the sand. Over the first sixteen hours there were 2400 American casualties. It was America at its finest; Americans who loved our country and our freedom, demonstrating the American “can do” spirit in the face of overwhelming forces and odds.

The Allies began landing on the beaches at 6:30am and by late afternoon had established toehold positions and initial objectives for that day, and at by midnight that first day they were mostly beyond Germany’s outer ring of defensive lines. By the end of August, German forces had been driven out of northern France by our Allied forces.

Today there are less than 120 D-Day veterans surviving and attempting to attend the 80th Anniversary Remembrance Services. They are mostly men in their very late 90’s or over 100 years old. The greatest generation, who saved the world from totalitarianism and German domination, are passing from the scene.

What made them great? Love of life, love of freedom, and love for America. They knew what a treasure we have in America, and how destructive power becomes in the hands of one person or party can become, as demonstrated by Hitler’s Third Reich. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

The greatest generation also understood that life is hard work, and that a price must be paid to preserve the blessings one has. The greatest generation grew up pledging allegiance to the flag, to the republic for which it stands. They were interested in being one people, one nation, living under God. They believed that liberty and freedom and justice were for all people, not just elite people. They were people who had been directly or indirectly influenced by the teachings of Jesus, and inspired by the sacrifice of His life in order to make it possible for others to experience life at its best. It was Jesus who said in John 15:13-14 (NIV84): “Greater love has no one than this that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.”

Take some time this summer to explore the values and accomplishments of the greatest generation. Explore what our freedom and equal justice cost to have and to preserve. If you have not been to the D-Day Memorial at Bedford, Virginia, plan to spend a day there. You start at the big Colonnade with a huge statue of General Eisenhower pointing the way to Normandy and to fulfilling Operation Overlord. Look up at the map painted in the dome of the Colonnade, mapping the ships’ and troops’ points of origin and landing sites. The Overlord symbol was an arrow, and the long flower bed is shaped like an arrow, pointing the way forward. Walk out into the landing craft, and stand there looking at the bronze soldiers running for the cliffs, and climbing the cliffs. Stand there and listen and watch the bullets impacting the water around you. Feel the stress that sight and sound has on your psyche. It is a very important, and sobering four or five minutes. Your body will defensively jerk at the sound of the shot and water impact. Follow on, over the cliffs and to the flags of the countries and soldiers who fought for your freedom.

Those who forget the past, will unfortunately end up repeating the past. Tell a veteran “Thank you,” learn what price people paid for us to have our freedom. Learn the value of living free, where the power to govern rests in the people, not the leaders. May God bless America, land that I love!

Award-winning columnist Dr. Ed Jordan is pastor of Gwynn’s Island Baptist Church, Gwynn, VA. He can be reached at szent.edward@gmail.com.