As a member of the millennial generation, the events of World War II seem so distant as our world has moved at a remarkably fast pace. However, they really aren't that distant. Being born in 1991, D-Day was only 47 years prior to my birth. Given that I am 32 years old now, 47 years really isn't that much when you think about it. Yet, my generation don't seem to have the same veneration or respect for these brave men as previous generations do. I find that to be a great shame. If not for our British armed forces and our Allied friends, our lives would be very different. Perhaps I wouldn't even be writing this at all.
D-Day, June 6th 1944, was the largest amphibious landing in the history of warfare. Over 150,000 troops landed on the beaches of Normandy. The success of this landing allowed for the liberation of France and the subsequent Allied victory on the Western Front. This was no small feat. Imagine for a moment, being parachuted onto one of five beaches in a foreign land while the enemy waits for and shoots at you. Some of these men were actually teenage boys, barely having experienced the world before they were asked to give their lives for it.
A quote by General Dwight Eisenhower sums up the feeling at the time, “You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you.”
This day was so important in securing the future of Europe away from Nazi influence and proved to be an important psychological defeat for Germany which led to the unconditional surrender of Germany less than a year later. This did not come without great cost. 21o,000 Allied casualties. 37,000 killed among ground forces and 16,000 killed in the air forces.
When it comes to Remembrance Day in November, I was the only person I saw at work wearing a poppy. I still have my poppy work lanyard on all these months later. I may never have been to war, never want to go to war, and rarely agree with war as a solution, but I understand that my livelihood and my safety are intrinsically connected to those who are willing and were willing to go to war for us, whether they agreed with what the war was about or not. I am well aware that these men who made it home were not always okay mentally after, but were expected to get on with life... and they did. I have family who fought in the war. Respect is not a choice, but natural.
With so much divisiveness propagated in the media and online, as well as in homes, between generations, there seems to be a growing lack of respect or, in most cases, general blasé attitudes towards the older generation. Different political beliefs, different views on pressing issues shouldn't be a reason to dismiss older generations as outdated or other -ist/-ic terms. If anything, younger generations should understand them more. They went through tremendously difficult times in their youth, they made financial sacrifices, they felt the echoes of global conflict, and yet we can't even show a little respect on a couple of days a year. These men and women gave for us - their time, their sanity, their talents, their knowledge and even their lives.
All we have to give is respect.
D-Day is a very important day in global history; one that was a turning point in the way our world operates. It is important to remember what the older generation have done and to thank them. There aren't many of them left after all. My heart breaks when I see images of these elderly men and women at 80th anniversary events weeping. We can't even imagine what they saw that day. So, thank you. Thank you to our British heroes of that day and to the American, Canadian, Australian, Czech, Slovakian, Australian, French, Greek, Norwegian, Polish, New Zealander, Danish and Dutch friends who also gave their lives.
Thank you all so very much.
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