It remained in his bedroom until his death four years ago. Of the group pictured, my father was the only one not buried in a French cemetery. My father seldom talked of the war. What he did note about the landing in Normandy was the tenuousness of the first few days and the likelihood that Eisenhower's army could have been repulsed if the Germans had only known it was a single major assault, with other actions principally designed as diversions. As was the fact that we had broken the German and Japanese codes, and had embarked on the Manhattan project.
Perspective is always difficult to apply to events of the day and even the century.
But there is no doubt that Normandy symbolizes not only uncommon commitment and bravery, but the nascent effectuation of a system of collective security predicated on the notion that from time to time force is required to keep the peace. Normandy also symbolizes leadership, American leadership. If it weren't for the G.I., Europe would be freedom's toxic dump. If it weren't for the G.I., the symbol of order on the European land mass today would either be the Nazi or Soviet jackboot. Several decades ago in one of the profoundest personal observations of the 20th century a German pastor, Martin Niemoeller, reflected on the dark night of the human soul we now call the Holocaust.