Memorial Day, 1944

This time of year my thoughts always drift back to a long-ago May 30, the traditional date for Memorial Day. Here is an excerpt from the book Normandy 1944 - A Young Rifleman's War:

Memorial Day of 1944 proved memorable. It was a week before D-Day, but we didn't know that even though everyone was aware the invasion of France was imminent. We crowded onto trucks that took us to a field overlooking the Bristol Channel. We sat in a semi-circle at cliffside, amazed by the number of warships at anchor, and then were addressed by an officer from a headquarters outfit in London. He spoke at length of the opportunities for promotion once the invasion had taken place. To hear him tell it we could all be generals if we took advantage of those opportunities. Then in what seemed like an afterthought in closing, he said, " Of course riflemen in the infantry and cannoneers in the artillery will just be cannon fodder."
His entire audience was comprised of riflemen.

Thanks, Dick.

A timely post, Dick. Thank you.

What a comment to those poor chaps Dick. Yikes.
There is a group of American visitors here in honour of Memorial Day to tend to the graves of American soldiers who died in the War of 1812 and are buried on what is knows as Deadman's Island. It's a touching tribute, and reinforces the common history that we share between Canada and the US.
Enjoy the weekend, and the tributes.

It is memorable. To some more than others.

Very good, Dick.

I just finished watching a series on the history channel called Battle 360, focusing on the Pacific campaign of the USS Enterprise (CV-6) from Pearl to Saipan (the Normandy of the Pacific). All those men, more dying mere moments every day than we've lost in Iraq and the Gulf War combined, and I hope that while we're at the lake or the barbecue or the big sale at Wal-Mart, we're thinking of them and those who followed.

Malcolm

Thank you for sharing with us, Dick. It puts things into perspective for those of us who haven't been touched on a personal level by the ravages of war.