Operation Neptune

This M-4 Sherman tank, on display in France near the site of the Normandy Beach landings, is my favorite symbol of the tremendous sacrifices our military makes - as part of their basic job description.  This tank never made landfall; the vessel assigned to land it was sunk early in the campaign, taking men and materiel down with her.  This tank was later salvaged and made a display item to symbolize the high cost of war in general, and the horrible price paid in particular on 6 June 1944.


D-Day {the opening of Operation Neptune} saw 2499 American deaths, and in excess of 10,000 tons of equipment lost; grim figures for a campaign that barely lasted 72 hours.  To be fair though, compare that figure to the number of people lost on 9/11, or to the current casualty count from a full decade of conflict in the mid-East and Afghanistan.  None of those losses should be taken lightly, which is precisely why this tank was recovered and put on display.  


To my eyes, this tank looks "raw" in many senses.  It obviously was never modified to better survive combat; it remains more or less the way it came off the assembly line, in stark contrast to  the countless images of its' brethren who did see service.  Going a bit deeper, I can easily picture a gaggle of 19-year-old boys clustering around the tank for cover as they hear the scream of the artillery shell that ended their campaign before it even got started.  Like the tank, they were fresh, raw, and untested by combat - and never would be.


Not that all those who survived D-Day were any better off, mind you.  Surviving war does NOT mean one is unaffected, as countless Veterans might tell you, if they feel like airing their demons a little bit.  For many Vets, death would be a mercy in comparison to the horrible firsthand knowledge they have  about warfare.  Death ends mortal suffering, after all.  Those boys who went down with the Sherman likely never knew - much less understood - what hit them.  The survivors did however, and that's why we have such monuments today - as well as the freedom to blog about them if we choose.


For that, I'm tremendously grateful  and thankful.  All those who paid a price on that handful of French beaches so long ago deserve much, much more honor and respect than my humble musings here.  As such, I'd like to invite all and sundry to join me in honoring our Military on a frequent basis.  Theirs is the ULTIMATE thankless task, and they deserve infinitely better than a slowly rusting combat vehicle that never once got powder residue in its' gun barrel, as a form of honor.  It's the very least we can do IMHO, but I'd dearly like to see a damn sight more done.


Lest We Forget, dig?


More shortly..............