D-Day 70th Anniversary
Today marks the 70th anniversary of the first day of the Normandy Invasion of World War II or D-Day as it is commonly known. Ten years ago, many of my Army colleagues were in Normandy in support of the 60th anniversary commemorations as part of the Department of Defense World War II 60th Anniversary Commemoration Committee. The Committee stands as one of the most rewarding assignments of my Army career.
I was privileged to meet many of the real heroes who helped save the world back in 1944. And make absolutely no mistake about it. They saved the world. That’s not an exaggeration of what these brave men and woman did who fought and sacrificed not just on D-Day, but during all of World War II. Had the Allied Forces not invaded Normandy when they did, the world would probably look a lot different.
Much has been written about those brave men and woman who constitute Tom Brokaw’s “Greatest Generation.” And I am neither competent nor qualified to write anything of substance on the matter. But suffice it to say that the WWII veterans I encountered during nearly two years with the World War II Committee demonstrated extraordinary strength of character, humility and heroism. There wasn’t one I met who didn’t earn every ounce of respect I could muster and then some.
My assignment to the World War II Committee turned out to be on a short list of most rewarding assignments I had in nearly 29 years in the Army. The Veterans made it so. But so did the other Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen and civilian staff comprising the Committee’s roster.
MG Aadland announcing the start of OPERATION Tribute to Freedom in 2003.
Maj. Gen. Anders Aadland received the call to head the World War II Committee after successfully leading the Operation Tribute to Freedom Team. Tribute to Freedom was an ad hoc joint task force assembled by the Department of Defense to recognize service men and women upon their return from Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, respectively. He did such an outstanding job that DoD tagged him to establish and lead the World War II Committee.
I had been Maj. Gen. Aadland’s Executive Officer on Tribute to Freedom, so he tagged me to help build the World War II Committee as its Chief of Staff and PAO. Retired Col. Larry Brom later came aboard as the Chief of Staff. I became the spokesman and Chief of Public Education and Awareness. Retired Lt. Gen. Ed Soyster later came in as a Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Army to take over upon Maj. Gen. Aadland’s retirement.
Boston, Mass. (June 17, 2005) – Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Army, Harry E. Soyster, right, presents LST Memorial Crew Captain Robert Jornlin with a World War II 60th anniversary commemoration medal, honoring the service and sacrifice of America’s World War II veterans. The vintage tank landing ship, which participated in the Normandy D-Day invasion, is docked at the Charlestown Navy Yard during Boston’s Navy Week. U.S. Navy photo by Journalist 1st Class Dave Kaylor.
From April 2004 until December 2005, the Committee conducted and supported at least nine major World War II Commemorative events around the world and quite a few more smaller events including two on the National Mall in Washington, DC.
Today, with the 70th anniversary of D-Day all over the news, my Facebook page has lit up with the names of some of my former colleagues from the committee. They’re all reminiscing about the unusually positive experience for each of us who served with the Committee. It really WAS a wonderfully positive assignment not just because of the veteran population we served but because of the outstanding people on the Committee. So I dug through some of my old photos and found the one “class photo” of the committee that was taken early on at the newly opened World War II Memorial on the National Mall.
Not everyone here is represented, since many on the Committee only served for a short time. The major players are there – people who established one of the most fun, supportive, rewarding and productive working environments I’ve ever experienced. Yes, we had lots of laughs, but we also did some terrific work in those nearly two years together. Here’s the photo of my colleagues many of whom still correspond. I count you all among friends and consider you all to be consummate professionals.
The Department of Defense World War II 60th Anniversary Commemoration Committee. Click to enlarge.
I’d be remiss if I were to fail to mention those from the Committee who are no longer with us:
Mr. Matt Boland
Ms. Sarah Hildebrand
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Hagen, United States Army
Lieutenant Commander Jack Dunphy, United States Coast Guard
I continue to be honored to have served with you all.
Fellow Committee members, please share this liberally. Thanks!
Kim Kelly Danek, Dan Wickens, Diane Varhola, Micki Sotta, Hunter Holliday, Barbara Ellis.
When my sister took my son to France when he was eleven, with my dad being a WWII Vet, he could tell you each battle, ship etc. The one main thing he wanted out of France other than seeing the Mona Lisa, was to Visit the beachhead in Normandy. My sister on their last day in France took a 3-6 hour bus trip to Normandy,where my 11 year old visited the bunkers,. walked all the beachheads he could get to and took a large bag of sand home and distributed to all my dad’s friends and kept a jar in memory for himself to such a sacred place. Thank you all veterans for their sacrifice.
Dan, you left off LTC Bob Hagen as a deceased committee member. Bob joined us late but was instrumental in our support of the Regional Events in Vancouver, Washington, San Diego, and San Antonio.
You’re right, Hunter. And I should have caught that. Bob and I were roommates for a time when he was in DC. I’ll fix that omission. (Edit: Turns out, he wasn’t on the copy of the alert roster I was working from. The error is mine.)
I’m fairly certain that with a little more digging, I can match names to all the faces in the class photo. I remember the vast majority of ’em, but there’s a few whose names escape me.
That photo must have been right before I came on board. Either that or the Corps of Engineers was still trying to keep me from leaving them!
This photo predates my arrival but probably not by much. It could even have been taken while the Corps of Engineers was fighting to keep me.
I remember that! Bringing you aboard was a tough task.
Probably one of the few bad memories from that time. I could never understand why they fought so hard to stop me because I had almost nothing to do over there and was bored senseless.
@ Hunter- LTC Hagan died sir?
Yes he did Dan. I believe it has been a couple of years. He had cancer.
Dan – He died in May, 2009 from a very invasive cancer. It was horribly sad. He sent out an email just before he died. I have it tucked away somewhere.
Wow, it has been a lot longer than I thought. Happened pretty quickly as I recall.
He had been sick for awhile, as I recall, until things got really awful for him. His decline was rapid.
Sad. Really when you think that our staff was fairly small, to have lost four people in ten years who were not that old is exceptional.
Agreed.
Dan, yes he passed away while I was in Iraq. He had cancer that had spread to his brain. I got to spend a few weeks with him at Ft. Meade I was in DINFOS before deployment and he was instructing a PA class. He was sick at the time and found out after his 2 week class that it was cancer. Bob was a great guy we had served together on WWI I 50th, Korean War 50th and the 100th of the Army Reserve many good memories!
Great blog post! What happened to Jack?
Barbara – Sorry, but I’m not aware of the circumstances of Jack’s death.
Diane Varhola commented on The “I Hate to Blog” Blog:
That photo must have been right before I came on board. Either that or the Corps of Engineers was still trying to keep me from leaving them!
Barbara, if I am not mistaken Jack had heart issues and died of congestive heart failure or it could have been a lung issue as well. Possibly related to his time in Vietnam.
Thanks Hunter..