Beginning of End

The cult of Hitler that had devoured Continental Europe started to fall seventy-one years ago today. On June 6, 1944, the forces of liberty began the invasion of France. Forces from the United States, the United Kingdom including Canada, Free Poles, and Free French began to push the Nazis back. Rommel had helped Hitler create what seemed and was a formidable defense to stop and Allied landing. Fortress Europe was not impregnable. Raw courage led to successful landings at all five beaches the Allied command had selected. On beaches code named Juno, Sword, Gold, Utah, and Omaha Beaches, thousand of young men who loved freedom more than life gave the last full measure of devotion so that Europe could be free. The Nazis clung on until May 8, 1945 but liberation began in earnest with the successful parachute drops, glider landings, and the great beach invasion of D-Day.