June 6, 2019: The 75th Anniversary of D-Day
June 6, 1944, changed the course of history. The courage and bravery of the Allied Forces began the liberation of Europe. Appropriately, the anniversary of this momentous day was celebrated by dignitaries and veterans from across the world.
97-year old veteran, Tom Rice, parachuted into Normandy again, as he had 75 years ago—then as a paratrooper with the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division.
D-Day set me free!
Why does D-Day matter to so much to me? I was set free, albeit indirectly as I was born almost two decades after the end of World War II. My country of origin, the Netherlands, was liberated by the Allied Forces. It's free! My parents were set free. I live because brave men and women were willing to risk their lives. And, now I live in the United States. I am so grateful! I can't look at pictures of D-Day or a military cemetery without getting all choked up. Thank you Allied Forces for your sacrifice!
While we still lived in the Netherlands, my family camped in Normandy several times. We visited the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer. Wow, what a tremendously emotional experience. It still brings tears to my eyes. Rows and rows of crosses (and some stars) perfectly straight in every direction. 9,388 people are buried there! It's a beautiful site commemorating the huge sacrifices made. During the D-Day invasion, over 4,000 allied troops died, most under the age of 20!
They died so I can be free. How can I not be wrecked by this?
Let's make sure we value our freedom and honor those who died to set us free. Let's guard this freedom and work together to keep our liberty.
Visual demonstration of spiritual reality
D-Day and military cemeteries always remind me of another freedom. They provide me a tangible visual for a spiritual reality—the reality that I've also been set free spiritually and eternally. This freedom also required the ultimate sacrifice of death. God's own Son, Jesus, died so I can be free. This freedom is available to all of us! If we had a celebration it would be about the 2000th Anniversary of that liberation. Thank you Jesus!
Let's value the opportunity to be eternally and spiritually free. Let's honor it and choose to live free. "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." John 8:36
What about you? Are you celebrating your freedom? Are you free? Do you know the real Jesus?
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