Wrinkly Bits
A Blog by Gail Cushman
June 6, 1944, D-Day. It was the day that 150,000 allied troops surprised the Nazi Army as they swarmed the beaches at Normandy, France, facing the Nazi troops, who killed 4,400 Americans. Oddly enough about 4,000 Germans died during the D-Day invasion. The D-Day battle was longer than just day, maybe a couple months, and 73,000 people were killed. World War II was a long war, and truly a world war, with many countries involved, on one side or the other. We read about it in school and watch movies, but I doubt that we really “get it.” The whole world at war. How can that be?
June 6, 2026, D-day. Today I’m watching baseball, and really have few concerns about much…maybe what we’ll have for dinner or whether the Cardinals will win today or whether Cody will finally learn what his name is.
I am a “baby boomer,” and remember the aftermath of WWII, not the actual war. I know that most people my age had multiple family members in the war, in several countries (Uncle Charles was a farrier in India, Uncle Wilbur died in Germany during the D-Day invasion, and Uncle George was somewhere fighting the Japanese.) My mother worked in an airplane factory. Robert’s father was a Marine. My father was given a draft notice and eligible to serve, but he was a farmer and the US needed farmers, so he went back to Nebraska and farmed. He both was glad he didn’t have to go to war and unhappy because he didn’t feel he gave to the war effort. Mixed feelings.
At any rate, today is an important day in America’s history. As you sit around watching baseball, speaking English, and enjoying America’s many freedoms, lift a glass to the Veterans from WWII. They gave us a country like no other!
