Reflections on D-Day

I enjoyed this weekend in a very American way. I watched my youngest daughter play in a softball tournament at the local ball fields. Popcorn and soda, cheering and grumbling, and the warmth of a late spring Saturday that gave me a touch of sunburn. That was my June 6th, 2009. And yet, as a military historian, the events of June 6th, 1944 were not far from my thinking. I wish that I could say that was true of every year on that date. There have been years in which the date arrived and maybe even passed before I realized it. Given that I have devoted a substantial amount of study to the Allied invasion of Normandy, that would seem to be unforgivable. But that was not true of this year. I remembered.

I read an editorial in the local newspaper this morning. It provoked a lot of thought on my part. It raised the question of remembrance of D-day. How different is the "memory" of that day today as opposed to during the years immediately following the war. But then those years stretch to decades and the immediacy of the event starts to fade. Annual remembrance on the part of the Allied nations moves from yearly ceremonies to more significant anniversaries. Twenty years, twenty five, forty, fifty, and sixty years. On the occasion of the 40th anniversary, Ronald Reagan gave a moving tribute to the Army Rangers who scaled Pont du Hoc on the Normandy coast. Ever the compelling orator, Reagan captured the meaning of the sacrifice that took place in France forty years previous to his momentous speech which he delivered in front of the stone dagger that stands as a monument for the Rangers. Now, 65 years since the invasion, that monument sits precariously at the edge of the the cliffs once scaled by the Rangers. Erosion of the cliff face because of the power of the sea makes the very location of the Reagan speech a dangerous place to visit; so much so that a safety perimeter has been established to keep visitors from wandering too close to the crumbling ground. (Photographs at right by David Chapman) Although Pont du Hoc has been preserved so that visitors can see the craters from naval guns and aerial bombing, the power of nature takes the hallowed ground away with each passing day. Just as the elements conspire to take the memory of D-day from us, so too does time.

This year, the 65th anniversary was observed on the grounds of the American Cemetary on the bluffs above Omaha Beach. Speakers included French President Nicolas Sarkozy, U.S. President Barak Obama, as well as Prince Charles of the United Kingdom and Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada. The words of these men were eloquent. Sarkozy's comments were moving, particularly those lauding the cooperation of the four nations in 1944 and the hope for a peaceful Europe in the coming years. It is my fervent hope that peace will prevail and global war such as that which took place in World War Two will never again plague this planet. War does exist and will continue to do so. No matter how idealistic individual leaders or even nations may be, it seems there will always be those who are not to be satisfied with cooperative efforts and peace. Who provokes who? Who covets the wealth of others? These are but two questions that may provide the answers to whether global war may return. Of course, what the nature of the enemies or weapons used may be will determine not only the outcome of the war but the future of mankind. Normandy should help us recall the courage that leads to the defeat of evil in the world. The Cold War and related proxy wars should remind us of the continuing menace of war.

God bless those who fought in Operation Overlord and the battles that followed. Though our memories may fade, nothing will supplant that June day, that "longest day" in the words of Corneleus Ryan, as one of the turning points of human history.

A Soldier Goes Home

George Robert Names

Our beloved Grandpa George Names died Tuesday morning, February 17th. This wonderful man was a blessing to us all.

The following narrative describes his service in the United States Army during the Second World War.

George Robert Names served in the United States Army. He was attached to the 80th Infantry, Third Army in the European Theater of Operations during the Second World War. Private Names landed in Normandy, France in 1944, shortly after the main Allied invasion in June of that year. He fought his way across northern France in pursuit of German forces withdrawing from occupied Western Europe. He saw combat action in the areas of Metz and Nancy in the eastern frontier of France, spending most of his nights in foxholes as a forward observer, frequently within earshot of German troops.

As is characteristic of most who served in combat, Mr. Names’ account downplayed the dangers and brutal realities of warfare. Those experiences are only comprehensible to the few who have been through them and words have little real impact.
In the drive to cross the Moselle River, George Names experienced the common problems of the infantryman, including the malady that eventually led to his evacuation from the war; extreme frostbite to his feet. More terrifying were the sudden exchanges of fire with the enemy that was sometimes only mere yards in the distance. One such incident nearly took Names’ life.

German machine gun fire sprayed across the network of foxholes in which American troops kept watch over suspected enemy positions near the river. While seated in a foxhole with another soldier, Names began to rise from his position in the hole. His comrade pulled him back into the bottom of the hole. His account of the incident was that many of the men around him were wounded or killed and the action taken by his foxhole-mate saved him from the same fate. Clearly grateful, but subdued in his description, George Names told this story to few people. This underscores the nature of this citizen soldier that survived the war and lived a life of postwar peace with his wife of more than sixty years, Vetta Arlene Names.
At the time of his death, George Names left a legacy of both soldier and devoted family man. This quiet man lived to see several generations of adoring family members. He is remembered as a great yet common man who was the embodiment of his generation. One of millions who participated in the war, he would be the first to say that the true heroes of the war never came home. Nevertheless, he was and remains our hero.

D-Day Remembered

June 6th always makes me deeply ponder the events of that day in 1944. Having visited the beaches of Normandy and the beautiful lands of Northern France on three occasions, I can appreciate the grounds unto which our allied forces landed 64 years ago. Being there without the guns of war raging naturally fails to provide one with the true sense of what happened on that day, but seeing the terrain and viewing the surf adds dimension to the visions that one conjures up about the events of that day. The deep shell craters of Pointe du Hoc testify to the violence of the day. The mostly submerged remnants of the Mulberry Harbor at Arromanches testify to the ingenuity of the allied planners who sought to overcome the logistical obstacles of not possessing a secured port. Towns and villages such as St. Mere Eglise and Port en Bessin contain visual clues of the fighting that took place, whether the evidence be once destroyed but now rebuilt structures or abandoned Axis defense positions that now house the ghosts of soldiers frightened but determined in the face of the greatest amphibious assault in warfare up to that time. For the few who were there on that day, my romantic musings of Normandy mean little when compared to the overwhelming visual stimuli that bombarded them on June 6, 1944.

I have had the opportunity and honor to accompany a small band of American students to visit Normandy on three separate occassions (2004, 2005, and 2007). Admittedly, there was a mix of interest in what happened there. Some of the students were fully engaged and eager to learn more throughout the 10-day visit. Others were more focused upon the shallow, temporary thrill of a trip to Europe. While the former were hanging on every detail available from guides and museum exhibits, the latter took cat naps to make up for the lost sleep sacrificed during the prior night as they conjured up ways to entertain themselves in ways no doubt contrary to the rules.

Perhaps the great equalizer for most of the students as the visit to the American Cemetary. Even the least interested in the true message of the trip had to come to grips with the magnitude of over 9,000 graves of Americans killed during the Normandy campaign. This immaculately manicured piece of hallowed ground has a powerful effect upon those who cast eyes upon it. It is for this reason that our benefactor, the late Mr. George Billingsly of Bella Vista, Arkansas established an endowment to provide eight students and two faculty sponsors from Bentonville High School in Bentonville, Arkansas an annual opportunity to travel to France to see the sites of the last true global war. He did not want Hollywood to dictate what would become the memories of that war. Even if only eight individuals at a time, he wanted some of our youth to have first-hand views of the sites of a truly great struggle, the outcome of which provided them with freedoms that we usually take for granted today. This generous gift has resulted in the planting of seeds. Eight seeds are sown each year. Some will germinate and grow, flowering into the passing of the story to others. This is how we keep the story alive. Although our veterans of the struggle pass on daily, we still have chances to speak to them, to learn, and to honor them. No matter how humble or mundane their contribution may have been at Normandy or anywhere else in the conflict known here as World War Two, we as a people must remember their deeds and enjoy the benefits that they sacrificed time, youth or life to provide.

Photographs property of David Chapman