Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 30, 1994 TAG: 9406030061
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By MARSHALL FISHWICK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The Berlin Wall divided democracy from tyranny for 40 years, but then it came tumbling down. The much-older walls of South Africa's apartheid, blocking native blacks and coloreds from their own voting booths, have finally come down; Nelson Mandela has gone from prison to presidency. Now it is time to celebrate what historians might call the wall-shattering event of the century. It occurred just half a century ago, when the Allied forces invaded, and eventually destroyed, Hitler's walled Europe (Festung Europa).
D-Day: June 6,1944. The fate of democracy hung in the balance. The outcome was far from certain. The whole German planning concept was centered on Festung Europa. The Wehrmacht, which had rolled across Europe and employed hundreds of thousands of enslaved civilians and war prisoners to move guns and build concrete barriers to fortify the French coastline, was on constant alert. How could the Allies, with inferior numbers and huge logistical problems, successfully crack this iron and concrete wall? And didn't the Germans have 64 divisions uncommitted on the Eastern Front, in reserve for any Allied invasion? To land in the heavily fortified French ports would be suicidal. The decision: Land on open beaches, and move inland at whatever cost.
The task took years of planning and training. Endless North Atlantic convoys sailed through perilous seas to restore battered Britain and bring in the men and might of the New World. The British hung on like bulldogs, enduring a war that was a wild beast attacking them every night. Winston Churchill was right: It was their finest hour.
Millions who never landed on the beachheads made the invasion a success. Virginians were high on that list. The giant arsenal near Radford was crucial, as was the Norfolk and Western Railway, hauling the coal and the men for battle. The Marines had their major training base in Quantico, and the Navy installations dotted all of Tidewater. A dozen Army camps were scattered all over the Old Dominion. In Washington, the chief of staff, who was responsible for all our operations, was Gen. George Marshall, a VMI graduate. On the Normandy beachheads, units recruited largely from the Roanoke and Bedford areas suffered some of the severest losses.
Operation Overlord, the code name for the invasion, has become a household word. There were other, smaller operations that made it possible. Ships like mine, seagoing tugboats, were assigned to Operation Mulberry - the planning and installation of artificial harbors, piers and breakwaters off Normandy beaches. One of the most daring military projects ever attempted, it helped move men and materiel over stormy waters, onto hostile shores, and into Nazi territory.
Bad weather made the actual choice of days a gamble. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower chose the day, and prepared the message he would send if we failed. Typically, he would have taken the full responsibility on his shoulders. No wonder we like Ike. No wonder, half a century later, we rejoice and are exceeding glad.
We were lucky. Hitler was hooked on astrology, and his astrologer said a June 6 landing was out of the question. Consequently Gen. Rommel - the German military genius who swore he would hurl the invaders back into the sea - was back in Berlin that day, celebrating a birthday. The Nazi troops from the Eastern Front finally moved westward - but they were on loading platforms and trains when they were most needed in France. After fierce fighting and much bloodshed, we moved forward through France and into Germany. We demanded and got unconditional surrender.
What made all this possible? Obviously the valor and skill of our military forces and their leaders. But there was much more. The millions who were not bearing arms carried something precious through those desperate days: faith.
Faith in our cause, our country, ourselves. We were in this together, and we knew we would win. The great voices of Roosevelt and Churchill filled our ears and our hearts. We overcame.
All this might sound a bit sentimental and simplistic to today's America, caught up in splintering, whimpering, self-serving and entitlement. The question is no longer what can I do for my country, but what can my country do for me? The key seems to have changed from faith to greed. We have met the enemy and he is us.
This is a good time to look back at where we have been, and what we owe to those who got us where we are. There is an old Welsh hymn, entitled "Ton-Y-Botel." The first verse begins:
"Once to ev'ry man and nation
Comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of truth with falsehood
For the good or evil side ... ''
That moment came for my generation on June 6, 1944. We decided and we acted. Now, half a century later, we rejoice in what we did.
Marshall Fishwick is professor of humanities and communication studies at Virginia Tech.
by CNB