Rotterman: Remembering the Battle for Freedom on D-Day

OPINION

Our house, like many other homes of older Americans, is adorned with photographs of family members who served in WWII and other conflicts.

While our fathers were engaged in the South Pacific during the planning of the biggest military invasion in history — D Day.

My husband’s father was a navy tail gunner on a TDM Avenger, shot down in the battle of Leyte Gulf, and my father served with an army rifle company attached to a tank division, later deploying to Australia and eventually joining Gen. Douglas MacArthur in the Philippines.

Years ago, while visiting Normandy’s American Cemetery, my husband and I walked among the rows of white crosses of the fallen.

On that day, my grandfather’s words echoed in my mind. He had been an 18-year-old soldier in France during World War I.

He never forgot his fallen comrades buried under the white crosses, where many other Americans are laid to rest: “Those poor, poor boys,” he would say. “They never saw home again. They are still over there.” And then he would add, “I was lucky, lucky, lucky.”

Those who survive combat often echo the same sentiment: “I was lucky.”

The casualties and deaths that Eisenhower anticipated on D Day were always on his mind as the invasion plans progressed.

Estimated losses— that phrase was constantly repeated as the invasion plan advanced.

The sheer scale of D Day — the largest military invasion in history — was staggering. The success of its secrecy was a remarkable feat, one that may be nearly impossible in today’s world.

This war was fought on battlefields, ships, planes, and war rooms around the world by regular citizens “doing their bit,” as they would say.

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme commander of the Allied forces, believed the invasion was a great crusade and that the Allied forces would not fail.

After D Day and the subsequent days during World War II, we learned about the unspeakable atrocities committed by the Nazis and the countless acts of bravery by the Allied forces.

As thousands fought and bled in combat, victory eventually came, but not without great sacrifice.

It is our duty to ensure that future generations never forget the price paid for freedom.

Karen Hayes Rotterman is a native North Carolinian, former college professor, director, television executive producer, communications business owner, and an appointee in President Ronald Reagan’s administration.