World War II - D-Day 69th Anniversary - #4507 - Rush Limbaugh - My D-Day Vacation (2) VIDEO: (204,887 views) Ronald Reagan Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion D-Day - Rush Limbaugh (3) Photos: A. Welborn - My Trip to Normandy on Memorial Day, May 27, 2013 - Welborn Freedom Watch

Rush Limbaugh - My D-Day Vacation - We have the sixty-ninth anniversary of D-Day Tuesday, and we went to Omaha Beach. We went to the American Cemetery at Normandy, and we went to Pointe du Hoc. But it is about six miles due west of the center of where Omaha Beach was, and it is a "p'want." It's a point that juts out, and German guns were there, and they had to take those guns out as part of D-Day. So we stopped in three places, touring D-Day locations, and we just barely scratched the surface. The primary location, Omaha Beach, is where they do the annual anniversary celebrations, but Omaha Beach is huge. Then there was Juno Beach further down, and then Utah Beach. D-Day was a giant, giant act of great deception on the part of Eisenhower. The Germans were entirely faked out -- and it's a good thing, because even being faked out, D-Day was a deadly event. I couldn't help while walking the beach at Omaha Beach... We went down to Pointe du Hoc, and gosh, the American Cemetery... I'd seen pictures. You have no idea. It's like most other things: You have no appreciation for it 'til you're really there. It's sobering, folks, and then it's 69 years ago. And the whole time we're walking the beach in these locations, I kept having a thought running around in my mind: "How many Americans even know anymore outside of 'Saving Private Ryan'? How many would even be impressed, if you could take them there and show them the serene place that it is today and say, 'Guess what happened here 69 years ago. Try to envision 200,000 Americans in oceangoing craft storming this beach, climbing these hills with German gun encampments all over the place mowing 'em down.'" Read more........

Ronald Reagan Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion D-Day - (204,887 views).

A. Welborn - PHOTOS: Our family visited Omaha Beach, the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, on Memorial Day, May 27, 2013,  and the World War II Museum nearby in Bayeux, France.  As Rush mentions above, nothing really prepares you as you stand on the beach and look out over the water trying to imagine the events on D-Day, June 6, 1944.  Some of the staggering statistics that occurred that day (1) 4,000 ships in the fleet (2) 5,800 bomber planes (3) 4,900 fighter planes (4)  153,000 troops (5) 20,000 vehicles (6) 11,000 casualties (7) 2,500 dead (8) 2,052,299 men came ashore following D-Day (9) 3,098,259 tons of stores (10) 640,000 Germans killed, wounded or taken prisoner in the Battle of Normandy. Our visit to the American Cemetery was quite moving especially visiting on Memorial Day, viewing all the flags that had been placed next to the crosses in the ceremony the day before.  At the Bayeux Museum Bookstore I purchased the book, 'The Longest Day' by Cornelius Ryan, reading a third on the way home.  What a book, so many questions were answered about the preparations and events leading up to that infamous day.  His book reads like a novel based on the numerous and extensive interviews Mr. Ryan conducted with so many people involved, as well as his own involvement on D-Day. The following are some of the many photos I took on our visit. It was truly the trip of a lifetime and the highlight of my trip to France. My father who passed away 3 years ago, was a Navy pilot during World War II. He was not involved with D-Day, but I grew up hearing so much about this war and his involvement, which made this trip so meaningful to me. Someday, if possible, I encourage others to try to visit Normandy, and to witness and experience this important time in our history.