Thursday, June 6, 2013

Go ahead, wear running shorts this morning...

Just because you put them on doesn't mean you have to go run, does it?

You do know it is D-Day, don't you? The D stands for day, the H stands for hour, and there were D-Days for every operation, H-Hours for the moment of attack. But D-Day is the Longest Day, the attack on Normandy - King Harold's Revenge? The Liberation of Europe. In 1984 I wanted to get to jump in the re-enactment - only gravity still works exactly as it did so long ago - I missed my chance. Still, I have walked the famous cliffs and beach, visited the graves and noticed how young most of the dead were, and what day they were killed, thousands of crosses and some stars - real Americans. Don't forget the Canadians, British and Free French - don't forget the Naval forces that had to get them there, the Air Corps that dragged the gliders, dropped the paratroopers, that bombed the heck of anything they suspected of being a strong point. When you drive around France, Normandy is beautiful, and the part still recovering from WWI is still recovering... all worth the visit with the spirits of the fallen. Although we have the movie industry, computer projections of real photographs - none of it would even come close to reading the books of those that survived and wrote it down. And each of those authors were self editing. D-Day.

Healing from illness, accident and trauma does take longer as one is now scheduled for slow destruction. Those growth hormones and careless youthful - time sense meant I don't really remember how long it took to get whole again.  I remember breaking a cast off my hand in the field at Fort Bragg - it was in my way. Now I have time to notice how long it is taking, and I can blog again and again how I am not as good even once as I once was... great song, Toby.

Just think, that the German response to the operations on Normandy was slow, imperfect and exactly wrong - and centralized in the leader. Don't allow that to happen in America, in America people step up and take charge and do stuff - waiting for leadership, good sense or perfection just won't get it done. Washington, DC will stonewall and lie, no matter what happens. Good luck with that as a survival technique.

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