Vol. 1 Issue #266]

Today is a One Big Story day; as I sat back and continued to recover, I read more about the D-Day invasion events and Operation Overlord that happened almost 80 years ago. It's hard to think about what we asked of so many young people in the early 20th century and compare that to what we ask 100 years later. How do you teach courage today?

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Big Trouble with Peace

Courage is boring in the Age of Rage

79 years ago this week, the United States Military and the Allied Forces amassed almost 3 million men in the largest armada to storm the beach at Normandy. The transcript of General Dwight D. Eisenhower's order to the forces on that day is below the YouTube clip from the U.S. Army. The early 20th century brought us two world wars, the great depression, and a dust bowl. Looking back, the four horsemen of the apocalypse might have been galloping through the country, and it took the courage of The Greatest Generation to win all of those wars. The bloody lessons learned from the first 50 years of the 20th century may have led to the country's longest peace stretch.

Courage and Responsibility

In the order Eisenhower gave to the forces, he talks of the earlier defeats and how we overcame them, built back the forces willing to fight and die for a free world, not a free country, a free world.

The commentary included with the clip the U.S. Army uploaded was the second note written by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower in case the decision to proceed with the operation was unsuccessful. On that note, Eisenhower accepted full responsibility for his decisions. Courage, honor, code, responsibility, and humility were the guts of our heroes, the people we revered. The courage of those people was said with few words and many sacrifices, often the ultimate sacrifice to a person or a family.

Transcript of the Order

❝

Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!

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

The hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere march with you.

In company with our brave Allies and brothers in arms on other fronts,

and brothers in arms on other fronts,

you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine,

the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe,

and security for ourselves in a free world.

Your task will not be an easy one.

Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle hardened,

he will fight savagely.

But this is the year 1944!

Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41.

The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats,

in open battle, man to man.

Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground.

Our home fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority

in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men.

and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men.

The tide has turned!

The free men of the world are marching together to victory!

I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle.

We will accept nothing less than full victory!

Good Luck!

And let us all beseech the blessings of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower

Lost Without a Fight

Have we become complacent? Aside from the rare disturbance or two in 70 years, our shores have never been breached, our safety has never come into question, and except for the war in Vietnam, our military has been a voluntary force of brave men and women. Why don't we want to fight with the free men and women of the world? Since when did we decide it was better to never apologize, never accept responsibility, and applaud the bully instead of picking up the weak? Have we become bored with true courage? Or has it been so long since we've had to find it within ourselves that we forgot what it looked like?

We'd instead storm capitals, give everyone within our own country a gun and destroy the laws that made The United States the most significant democratic experiment in the free world? Did we kill our courage, or is it still there, dormant for now? We don't have anyone evil enough to unite us to fight? We came together after 911, but after we came together, we went looking for another fight.

Courage and Service

When the noise of the new media burns itself out and the rest of us who know what true courage and service are, we will have to clean it up again. Until then, I accept the responsibility for whatever my country is becoming, whether through my own complacency or negligence because I believe in courage and accountability for where my country is now and in the future. It's whatever we want it to be.