To live for greatness

Harry Scherer
Class of 2022

One of the most iconic photos of D-Day is this one. General Eisenhower - Supreme Allied Command in Europe - speaking to the 101st Airborne on June 5th, the day before Operation, more commonly known as D-Day . The 101st would jump behind enemy lines the night before the invasion to disrupt German defenses. The Allied casualties figures for D-Day have generally been estimated at 10,000, including 2500 dead. In the two months prior to D-Day, Allied air forces lost nearly 12,000 men and over 2,000 aircraft in operations which paved the way for D-Day.

(6/2019) "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends" (John 15:13). On June 6, 1944, about 4,000 Allied troops lost their lives at the hands of war on the beaches of Normandy. Today, our consolation remains that their deaths were not in vain, but rather served a sacrificial purpose which was rooted in the preservation of freedom.

As we reflect on that fateful day, we are prompted to further consider the purpose of war itself. If forceful retaliation was not justified for the Allied forces and responses to international actions of terror were responded with inaction on the part of the United States, then tyranny would be the status quo and American ideals of freedom and liberty would have evaporated.

The American, British, Canadian, Australian, Czech, French, Norwegian and Polish men who died to safeguard Western ideals are collectively imprinted in the memories of the men and women who were alive at that time. Because the loss was so great for the Western military, that which was defending a flourishing culture and people, the memory of their short-term loss and lasting success proved to become an event which requires commemoration seventy-five years after its occurrence.

The motivations of the men who died deserves further reflection. On a practical level, the soldiers stormed the beaches of Normandy with the intention of pushing the Nazis out of France and diminishing their presence in Western Europe. If the Allied forces would not have been steadfast in their desire to push the Nazis further east, then the continuing conquest of the authoritarian world power would have continued to impose influence on the Western world. Another motivation which the West had was the termination of a long and bloody international conflict. All of the dreadful symptoms of prolonged war, including significant loss of life, a suffering economy and lengthened distraction from a political focus on domestic issues proved to be motivation to end this bitter battle.

The cultural tendency, which Americans and other members of the West have for commemorating events like D-Day, is indicative of the natural human tendency to recognize selfless action. A world which is surrounded by the selfish action of politicians, business leaders and celebrities has become particularly perceptive to the beauty and freedom of participating in selfless acts.

To that end, what could the individual soldiers have recognized to be the benefits of storming the beaches at Normandy? Was it for the defense of family, future Western generations, or the country for which they fought? Perhaps it was a perceived divine vocation to capitalize on the gifts which the soldiers were given. All of these possibilities necessitate the individual men and women who fought or supported the effort to look outside of their own comforts and pleasures.

It was certainly uncomfortable to spend weeks and months mentally preparing for a battle which was sure to kill thousands of men but had the potential to eventually liberate the nation of France and the rest of Western Europe from the grasp of Nazi control and prevent decades of death and persecution from a fearful and hateful ideology.

It was certainly uncomfortable to board the amphibious landing crafts which were used on that fateful and victorious day, unsure of whether you would be shot shortly after exiting the boat. Excited for the prospect of taking part in a defining moment in military and world history, the actions in which you would partake would be recorded and used to motivate and instill gratitude in the minds of thousands of free citizens.

It was certainly uncomfortable questioning the preparedness of the Nazis for the arrival of the Allied forces. If the Germans would have been more prepared, it is certain that many more would have died at the hands of the great war. It must be considered, further, the divine involvement in the events of June 6, 1944 and whether some lives were saved because of the surprising nature of the invasion.

It was certainly uncomfortable to travel across the English Channel to the beaches of France, sickened by the smell of vomit, crowded next to other frightened men who were motivated by a love of ideas wholly outside of themselves to perform an unenviable task for the sake of invisible realities.

It was certainly uncomfortable to land on the beaches, decelerated from the presence of the sand, unsure of what the next few minutes would hold and seeing brave men drop to the ground because of wounds.

It was certainly uncomfortable to consider the notion that the sacrifices which took place on June 6 and the lives that were lost could have not borne fruit. It was within the realm of possibility that the Germans were prepared for this targeted attack and tactically and physically prepared for the invasion. Instead, the Allied forces relied on a providential and practical plan to succeed in their mission.

It was certainly uncomfortable; "but you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness," said Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. The men and women who fought on the battle lines of Normandy, who came to the medical aid of the wounded soldiers, who prepared the soldiers for battle, who cooked and cleaned for the soldiers in their time of ultimate desperation away from their homes and families all recognized the universal vocation of not only doing great things but of being great. The calling of the 20th century was one to step aside from the pleasurable allures of comfort and recognize that a life well-lived is not a comfortable one, but one which recognizes and responds to suffering in a just, temperate, prudent and courageous manner. The soldiers who fought on the beaches of Normandy can remind the people of our time and generation that life is too short and meaningful to limit human action to that which is comfortable or instinctive. Our rationality prompts us to something more. Our vocation is greatness.

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