What does D-Day mean to the average American citizen?

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 08 Jun 2019 19:17:59 -0400

I believe it means absolutely nothing to the “average” American. https://images.app.goo.gl/qet2VC4m85eNE87f6

Image: Research Starters: D-Day | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans

Found on Google from nationalww2museum.org

Response by Sgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 8 at 2019 7:53 PM

Sgt Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 08 Jun 2019 19:53:30 -0400

LTC Private RallyPoint Member Colonel, I am afraid that you are right. The sacrifices made on D-Day and since only have meaning for a minority of Americans. My father died in 1956 when his T-33 crashed on a training mission. He served in WWII and Korea. My uncles all served in WWII. The sacrifices made by my father and other relatives and fellow brothers are never far from my mind.

Response by SPC Cesar Freytes made Jun 8 at 2019 10:12 PM

SPC Cesar Freytes — Sat, 08 Jun 2019 22:12:40 -0400

D day is like the holocaust its a tragic loss of memory. When I was in Ft. Campbell 200 years ago or so it feels, we had a battalion commander who took the effort to round up 101 Airborne troops that landed in Normandy on D day and chat with us young troops. I fell very lucky to have been a part of that experience and very humbled.

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 8 at 2019 11:19 PM

1LT Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 08 Jun 2019 23:19:56 -0400

All things fade away in time, no matter how sacred. Though this process seems to be exponentially increasing alongside modern developments, technology and globalization and the like.

As a sidebar, I think it means so little to average people because it was so over-used in media for various things. Movies, stories, games, we disconnected from it and from the real people involved and we can't feel the weight anymore. Just like with the fact that we dropped the bomb... twice.

But other things haven't faded, like MLK's March on Washington. That historical moment was kept afresh to the average American in my opinion.

A lot could be said, but my point is connecting it to modern culture and general sociology. We didn't preserve D-Day's significance very well, as a whole, as a society.

Response by SSgt Jim Gilmore made Jun 9 at 2019 12:21 AM

SSgt Jim Gilmore — Sun, 09 Jun 2019 00:21:21 -0400

Today'a generation believes it means DONUTS....

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 9 at 2019 2:18 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 09 Jun 2019 02:18:01 -0400

As generations move further into history, it will always be difficult to maintain the full prestige of such victorious events in history. How many people in our modern times truly feel the personal connection to the Revolutionary War, Civil War, or any other older war of significance? I'd say many remember and understand it's importance from a historical standpoint, but not to the point of personal connection to those who served during those times and the outcomes that arose from victory.

In my teenage years, Hollywood and the video game industry did a great job of glamorizing and displaying the brutal nature of WWII. Saving Private Ryan was a movie that gave great inspiration to me at that time, despite knowing that American Blacks were being treated horrifically in the that very era.

The opening scene of the Higgins Boats approaching the shore is my favorite of all, not because of the carnage, but because of my appreciation for the feeling of approaching an unknown danger with hopes of the best outcome. I still make reference to that line, "I want to see plenty of beach between men. Five men is a juicy opportunity, one man’s a waste of ammo." It is a concept that has stuck with me for my entire career.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 9 at 2019 4:23 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 09 Jun 2019 04:23:18 -0400

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Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 9 at 2019 9:41 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 09 Jun 2019 21:41:32 -0400

D day means Freedom and thanks to the WWII veterans for their sacrifice and for winning the war. If not, we would be sold into slavery or we'd be speaking German or Japanese now. (The Man in the High Castle).

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Jul 18 at 2020 3:05 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Sat, 18 Jul 2020 15:05:56 -0400

D-Day is the beginning of the end for an evil empire in Europe. It helped facilitate a logistics entry point on the European Continent in order for US and Allied forces open up a new theater of operations.

Response by SGM Gerald Fife made Jul 19 at 2020 1:34 AM

SGM Gerald Fife — Sun, 19 Jul 2020 01:34:07 -0400

To most people (civilians mostly) It doesn't mean a thing because it isn't a Holiday or a day off work. Most of you on Rally Point were born after the event. I was born 10 years prior. I have to tell a story of my First Sergeant in a Reserve company I was in in 1968. He joined the Army in 1942 when he was 17. Ended up in the 82nd in Gliders. He was Pack Artillery. If you have read the book, "A Bridge Too Far" written by Cornelius Ryan and was about Operation Market Garden in Holland Sep - Oct 1944. He was there. Came in in a Glider. Fast forward to around 1983, he retired from the Reserve as an E-9. Every year after that he went to France and Belgium during the D-Day celebrations. He did that for 15 years or so until 2015. In that year he and his wife were on the way to O'Hare in Chicago. On the way there he was hit by a large truck. He died about a week or so later. (it is beginning to get a little hard to tell the rest of story now) The friends he had made during all those years were waiting for him to arrive in Belgium. They didn't know of the accident. The people of Belgium put up a Memorial Plaque to him. If any of you would like to see the Memorial and some photos and testimonials about him, Just Google Ray or Raymond Fary. RIP, Ray.
I didn't realize it would take this long. I tried to make it shorter. Please take the time to look him and his story. You won't regret it.

Response by SFC Michael W. made Jul 19 at 2020 10:33 AM

SFC Michael W. — Sun, 19 Jul 2020 10:33:08 -0400

That's because this new generations (and some of the old) doesn't really care about our military history. When I finally went to Hawaii last January the first thing I wanted to see was Pearl Harbor. I took my 8 year old son to both explain and show the history about the military and while we walked around the multiple monuments displaying the events, a tour bus full of teenagers were also there, running around laughing, joking and taking poses on their cellphones as they "joked" about how the ships sank while the older adults looked at them in disgust. Before I had a chance to walk over and say something to them, one of the guide went and spoke to them which they nodded and toned down. Of course, this lasted only for a brief moment before they went back to being teenagers again...

Response by GySgt John Hudson made Jul 19 at 2020 2:49 PM

GySgt John Hudson — Sun, 19 Jul 2020 14:49:51 -0400

To my Aunts and Uncles who were involved in that particular event, it meant the move by the Allies to free the European continent. One of my Aunts said it meant freedom for her and her parents. Another said that it meant that her husband might not come home ever. To both my Uncles in the theater, it meant that they would be busy bombing targets and shooting down German planes. For my Parents, Mom was an RAF flight controller monitoring the skies over England and the assault beaches. For Dad, he was at Omaha Beach and he said that it was hell come to Earth. He also said that it was the most tragic event that he ever participated in, in his entire life. That also meant the discovery of the death camps later on. He and his buddy were the only survivors of their engineer platoon that day. He saw heroism on a scale that he could never put into words. Dad and my Uncles would not talk about it with me or my cousins until after we had joined the services. Then and only then did they open up. Aunt Jaqueline (Jackie) talked about the bombing of her village and the fighting around it till they were liberated. All of them have passed on, but their stories still live on in my mind. To the average on the street American. D-Day means very little to them. To the average European, it means something on different scales dependent upon their country's historical perspective. To me, it means the day Freedom came back to Europe and my family was involved in that arrival very personally. God bless all the souls lost in that event. God bless all who served in the name of freedom and liberty. God bless all who have served since. JP

Response by SGT Justin Anderson made Aug 17 at 2020 9:35 PM

SGT Justin Anderson — Mon, 17 Aug 2020 21:35:33 -0400

Depends on what your definition of "average citizen" is. You have to realize we live in a time where Americans reached a point where they know little to no one serving. Unless you know someone or have had a relative there that you knew or know of probably not much.