dday
80 years ago today, 2,501 Americans died at Normandy to protect lives and democracy.
Some were black, knowing they would return to a racist US.
Some were gay, knowing they could be court-martialed for who they were.
They fought anyway for what was best and right.
I don't care what you think of Biden. A world with Trump in the White House will be a disaster. In 151 days, you can do what is best and right without risking your life.
What a moment.
The WWII Veteran is introduced to Canadian PM Trudeau, and Trudeau introduces President Zelensky.
The Veteran immediately takes off his hat and exclaims “You're the Saviour of the People!!”.
Zelensky says, “no no, you saved Europe”.
“My hero", the veteran says, “I'll pray for you”.
Zelensky seems humbled (as he should).
Two men, saving Europe from tyranny, death, and destruction, at opposite ends of a lifetime.
#DDay #WWII #Canada #RussiaUkraineWar
https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.6415407
Marvin Gilmore
100 yrs old
On June 6 1944 #DDay his all #Black antiaircraft artillery battalion stormed the beaches of #Normandy
“War is gruesome. And I think most soldiers who came back, we don’t talk about it. We really don’t. It’s just, it’s beyond, it’s just beyond your imagination"
His grandparents were born into #slavery
He cofounded the first Black owned and operated commercial #bank in #NewEngland:
They denied him a home loan
“The Sodgers”, by Alexander Scott (1920–1989)
Alexander Scott landed in Normandy with the Gordon Highlanders, & saw action in the Ardennes & crossing the Rhine. He later became Head of Scottish Literature at the University of Glasgow, & was president of ASL from 1976–79
Published in FROM THE LINE: Scottish War Poetry 1914–1945, ed. David Goldie & Roderick Watson
https://asls.org.uk/publications/books/volumes/from_the_line/
#Scottish #literature #Scots #ScotsLanguage #poem #poetry #DDay #WW2 #WarPoetry
When you have walked through a town, as an infantryman
you’ll never go through streets the same way again…
—Colin McIntyre (1927–2012), “Infantryman”
Published in FROM THE LINE: Scottish War Poetry 1914–1945
https://asls.org.uk/publications/books/volumes/from_the_line/
We’re the D-Day Dodgers out in Italy,
Always on the vino, always on the spree…
—“The Ballad of the D-Day Dodgers”, a WW2 soldiers’ song collected by Hamish Henderson
Sung by Rod Paterson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDXoXx7RRWs&list=OLAK5uy_lyHb3w_CdLiyDsHl84M6obGIoyIc2Ydl4&index=2
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #song #soldiers #DDay #warpoetry #Italy