We’re not much of a history blog. We don’t generally butter our bread in regaling our readers with glorious battlefield triumphs nor somber odes and recollections of the sacrifices made on them. To me though, June 6th deserves a mention. The guy in the twitter video above with balls that could fill Lake Michigan deserves a mention.

75 years ago today, the Allies, in this context mostly meaning the US, UK, and Canada, but also consisting of troops from New Zealand, Denmark, and a slew of other European nations, brought the fight to the Germans. They decided enough was enough and brought the fight to the actual, destructive, permeating evil we were at war with. On June 6, 1944 a slew of Allied troops both parachuted into Normandy, France and landed via boat on its beaches, coming under heavy fire from both machine guns and artillery. They said one last hail mary, so to speak, and charged up the four main “beach heads” (basically points of attack) called “Gold”, “Sword”, “Omaha”, and “Juno” directly at enemy fortresses, taking at least 10,000 casualties.

And they won. They took the beach. They had arrived on enemy territory and got a foothold on the European subcontinent that had been long lost to the German superpower. It was one of the most daring, dramatic, and dynamic attacks in the history of modern warfare.

We know the rest of the story. We won. Then we won in Japan. The US became known as as the world #1 in most regards and Germany was for the second time and once and for all (as of now) sent packing. But today, 75 years later, take a second to remember everyone who landed on that beach, probably not just thinking but knowing they were going to die. Especially think of the 10,000 that were right, including countless that were never found and whose families have never really received any closure except for the notion that their loved one indeed died a hero.

It’s been 75 years and I still can’t fathom having not just the courage but the constitution to take part in such an act of combat, even when knowing you were basically trying to play a part in a major step in setting the world free. Those boys back then could though. And that should be remembered and discussed forever.