My father arrived in England in late May of 1944. His actual participation in D Day was a cheerleader from the sidelines. Later in June he would begin his actual B 24 missions over Germany. But his letter to my mother comes close to capturing the feelings of all our young Americans somewhere in England:
Tuesday, June 6, 1944
Darling…Today the word is Invasion! Our first hints came this morning as we began to hear it was D-Day, no one was quite sure until this noon. At about ten minutes to twelve the Commanding Officer of the Post and the Chaplin came into the mess hall. The C.O. told us then; that this was D-Day. He gave us all the news of it he had, about the landing and its air support. Then we stood at attention and observed a minute of silent prayer for the men doing the job. Then the Chaplain offered prayer. I can safely say that more than a few of these men had a tear in their eye. I know that I did, for this truly is the beginning of the end. This isn’t a time for rejoicing, not today. This is a day for prayer, for hard work, for a renewed effort to the hard task before us.
In today we can gather new hope, new courage, because now the job has been started. Each day, each hour, moves us closer to victory…
…Time to say good night. Darling, I love you very much. Today brings new faith in a certain lovely song, “I’ll be Home for Christmas.”
Your own,
Arthur
Sharon,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this remarkable letter! With goose bumps and a tear in MY eye, I imagine the emotion of 1944. "this is a day for prayer, for hard work, for a renewed effort to the hard task..."---just incredible thoughts!
Mary B