D-DAY, JUNE 6, 1944

Noticing the date on the calendar this morning, I’m drawn to memory lane once again.  Many time periods and dates remain embedded on my memory and cannot be denied regardless of the passing years.  For some reason, June 6^th I always remember although I often forget birthdays of important family members.

On Friday before June 6, 1944, I completed the fifth grade at Hansford Elementary School in St. Albans, WV.  On this particular Tuesday morning, I rose early, my bags packed, ready to go to the train station to ride the Doodlebug (a special passenger train) to Danville, WV, for my summer vacation with my beloved Aunt Pansy, Uncle Zach, and Wayne (presently the owner of Price Broadcasting, WZAC Radio, Z92 in Boone County, WV).

 Always a treasured trip, the weekend of preparation reached its climax as Mother posed me in the backyard for a photo before leaving for the station.  Other family members watched our performance with interest.  My six-year-old brother, Donny, continued to torment me about the trip (torment being his favorite pass time) as I tried to accommodate Mother for her photo.

Only a few hundred feet away on the same block, the school, the church, and a community bus stop stood as the gathering place for interaction between community residents.  Only two forms of public communication existed in those days. Radio and newspapers.  For this reason, newspapers published special editions when special events occurred, and they dispatched newspaper boys (young boys were the primary carriers to deliver newspapers) to designated corners to hawk the special event.

As we celebrated in the backyard, we heard the news boy shouting from the corner about the Invasion of Normandy. “Special, special, Allies invade France,” his excited voice carried throughout the neighborhood.  Mother gave Donny a nickel (5 cents) and sent him to purchase a paper for us.  We read the entire story, and I remember the excitement in the faces of the adults around us.  A rumored and “prayed for” turn of events in the five-year-long war.

As children, world war framed our lives and forced awareness of current events. My entire elementary school experience consisted of collecting for the war effort and understanding the shortages of things we desired.  The Weekly Reader, a current event paper, provided as a teaching tool that we must read on every Monday morning remains an outstanding memory. Following the pledge to the flag, a prayer, and a patriotic song, usually “God Bless America,” the teacher laid The Weekly Reader on our desks, and we began the journey across the map that always depicted the position of American troops through the war zones, both in Europe and the Pacific.  A dark period in History – the whole world at war. Without exception, we all had someone over there somewhere. 

At school closing the week before June 6th, the news remained grim. The Allies experienced more losses than gains.  However, rumors of an invasion that our leaders leaked to the masses gave hope for the future.  D-Day arrived. What did the term mean? General Dwight Eisenhower is quoted as saying, “It simply meant designated day.”

I rode the Doodlebug that June morning and enjoyed a delightful visit. When school began in September, 1944, the news continued to be grim as the troops fought a vicious struggle to gain French territory.  The winter of 1944 and spring of 1945 brought deadly and costly statistics to the Allies.  We learned of their losses and gains on a weekly basis every Monday morning.  However, on May 8, 1945, the Axis powers surrendered in Europe. In early August, 1945, Japan, refusing to surrender, suffered bombing that we pray may never occur again.  WW11 continued on in the Pacific until August 15, 1945, when Japan surrendered although hostilities continued until September 2, 1945.

Imagine the excitement and wonder of beginning my Junior High School days, the seventh grade, without war as the most studied subject.  War dominated my entire life from the first grade to the seventh. Is it any wonder that senior citizens of my age are appalled by the events surrounding us today?  And since those days, we fought bravely on so many fronts (Korea, Viet Nam, The Middle East) to keep our freedom.  Of course, we feel war-weary as we should.  However, to live free, to speak freely, to worship freely, to protect our rights, the price must be paid.  With memory of past battles, we stress over the loss of freedom being espoused by our leaders in the trend to socialism.

Many of our countrymen gave their ALL, loss of life or disability for life, to keep us free. History provides us with facts to study and learn.  Failure to make wise decisions that may not always be comfortable or desirable, may doom another generation to years of living in world-wide, war-torn countries, or following The Weekly Reader with a destiny of losses and gains to keep their freedom.

Yes, memories of D-Day, June 6, 1944, should continue forever as a reminder of past events, and History should teach us of mistakes to avoid for a brighter future. Let’s open our History Books and learn!

          

PHOTO taken 72 years ago today.  Background my brother, Donny Halstead, deceased in 2005. RIP