Some people are having fun with the alleged significance of today's date combining three sixes (though you have to omit 2, which kind of spoils the game). But we should not forget that on June 6, 1944 incredibly brave Allied forces landed at Normandy and began the liberation of Europe from the Nazis. The operation remains one of the great military offensives of all time, and the planning, stealth, and execution are of an order that boggles the mind.

Imagine how today's media would have handled the operation. For all its success, there were errors, and casualties were horrendous. Once the landing was complete, the bocage hedgerows made progress of our tanks very slow, at least until GI ingenuity improvised welded—on rakes to uproot them. The omniscient journalistsаwould have had a field day (pardon the pun) denouncing the incompetence of Ike and calling on FDR to fire him.

Nobody will long remember the satanic jokes of today, but freedom—loving people will always remember June 6, 1944 and celebrate the heroes who faced what seemed like certain death riding toward the beaches of Normandy.

Thomas Lifsonаа 6 06 06