Posted on 06/06/2006 4:41:41 AM PDT by AirBorn
Peter A. Thomas of Naples wrote "Omaha Beach" ten years after the June 6, 1944 landing at Omaha Beach to remember his fallen comrades. Thomas read the poem in public for the first time at a national D-Day memorial ceremony in Bedford, Va., last week.
When we went in the Beach had been taken The living fought on -- the dead forsaken We were dropped into water up to our shoulders We waded in -- a group of green soldiers Onto that thin strip of beach So many had tried to reach They were the ones who went in first Among the machine gun fire and shell burst
They went to watery graves Sinking under the waves The water was red Red from the dead Red from the dying In agony crying Those who made the land Were not able to stand They fell on the sand Writhing in pain Screaming for help in vain
Every advantage was on the hill They murdered our men at will The rain of death from the cliffs never stopped But we just kept coming in from the sea Wave after wave as far as you could see
Sheer courage and determination Not believing they were done Dictated the victory that day Others in the future will say When they stand on that mighty height And look down on that thin strip of beach "I don't see how they ever did it"
They fought for every inch of it Up the sides of that fortified wall Over the tops of those cliffs so tall I'll never forget that Beach I'll never forget the men In the ships In the air and on the land And those who died on the sand And in the water
They lie now beneath thousands of white crosses And stars of David Above the Beach Those wonderful soldiers who died so young They died so we Could be free
How can we ever forget what they did We honor them this day We salute them And we humbly beseech Dear God bless the men who died on Omaha Beach
I don't see how..as I went on line today this morning...that I could go on various sites and NOT see Hundreds of Thousands of dedications to the MEMORY of those fallen on Hune 6th, 1944--and even a short word of THANKS to those still alive today who had SURVIVED!
I hope thatthis changes as the day goes on.
DAB
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