Morning Vent, 6 June 2010 (D-Day)

 Not a proper grip...

    Today marks the 66th anniversary of the D-Day landings. It seems almost trite to say it today, but on this day in 1944, the fate of the civilized world was held in the hands of a few thousand men on the beaches of Normandy, France. Hitler had swallowed up most of Europe, with only Great Britain resolutely defying him. On 6 June 1944, the combined might of the Allies was launched against what had come to be called Fortress Europe. The blood, sweat, and toil of those soldiers would begin the process of tearing down the Thousand Year Reich down on Hitler's head.
    We experience that day filtered through the lens of popular culture: movies, games, novels. The men who strove that day - many of them still alive among us - lived it. Honor them by remembering the day.