Remembering The Forgotten Heroes
By Thomas D. Segel (04/20/07)
Harlingen, Texas, April 18, 2007: Americans are well aware of the national media's obsession with car bombs and body count in Iraq. Few are the days when we don’t hear of the explosions and have new numbers of dead reported. Then the ink dries on newsprint and the television screen fades to black. All are forgotten, except in the minds and hearts of family and friends who loved those who were lost or wounded.
This has always been the story of war. Even in recalling those mammoth battles of bygone years, what happened to so many, only lingers through the efforts of those who are deeply involved in the preservation of those dark, but meaningful times in our history.
Most of those alive today have no memory of what happened on June 6, 1944. Called “Operation Overlord”, General Dwight D. Eisenhower led more than 156,000 troops in a 50 mile-wide assault on the beaches of Normandy. Tons upon tons of explosives from aircraft and naval bombardment preceded the attack, which was then launched using 1,213 allied warships and 4,126 amphibious craft.
As the Allied forces battered their way up beaches filled with mines and barriers, all experienced a blood bath of unimaginable proportions. There is no fixed record of the exact number of men who died during the landings on five beaches. What is known...by the end of the Normandy campaign nearly 425,000 Allied and German troops had been killed, wounded or were reported missing.
Today, monuments and memorials to the fallen and wounded can be found along the beaches and across the countryside in France. The military cemeteries of France reveal row after row of white crosses, Stars of David, and other symbols of faith. Monuments have been erected and dedicated to all who were killed in action from the various units of the United States armed forces who participated in the invasion. All are represented except one...The United States Navy. The men of this service also died for their country. 1,068 officers and sailors were killed in action during the invasion. Another 34 died of wounds in the days following the attack. Today, 63 years after the battle, more than 60 monuments and tributes to the various armed forces that participated in the Normandy invasion can be found, but there is still none for these 1,102 fallen heroes.
Though the Naval Order of the United States has been trying to raise the $500,000 needed for a monument to honor these forgotten warriors, the four year long campaign seeking support has fallen on deaf years in both Congress and the Bush Administration. About half the money has been raised from private sources, but even defense contractors, who spend millions to lobby for war related business, have not written a single check.
Today, a few scattered volunteers from The Greatest Generation continue flooding the mail system and heating the Internet with emails, all in an attempt to raise the remaining money needed to construct the Navy D-Day Monument on Utah Beach in France.
Among them is a retired Navy Lieutenant, Ed McMeekin, who claims to be the youngest of these volunteers. “Most of the vets in NOUS working on this are older than I, and I am staring 77 in the face”, he says. He feels these fallen naval warriors have been denied the honor and recognition they deserve. “Most families of these heroes never heard Taps, never listened to a 21 gun salute, and never received at graveside the tri-folded American Flag or the final salute from the senior member of the Navy Color Guard. Even their boyhood friends, as well of their shipmates are passing away as I write.”
For the past ten years Ed McMeekin has been airing twice-daily commentaries on two non-profit radio stations. He has written to 140 of the Fortune 500 Corporations having a history of doing defense related business. Not one of them offered to help with the project, denying the requests for corporate participation. Even the conservative broadcasters such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Oliver North failed to respond to pleas for assistance.
The original Plan for the Navy Monument was to dedicate it on D-Day, 2007. That date has now been moved to D-Day, 2008. At the same time, McMeekin and the other monument volunteers are calling out to veteran’s organizations, individual veterans and those in active military service to raise the final $250,000 the Naval Order of the United States needs to complete its project.
The monument was designed at no cost to the NOUS by sculptor Stephen Spears of Fair Hope, Indiana. Three figures 8 feet tall will rest on a concrete pentagonal base four feet high. The base will be rimmed with a continuous bronze plaque that wraps around the five sides and will list all Navy vessels that participated in the Normandy invasion. Also being considered are various relief scenes of the naval operation. The three figures atop the monument will be those of a Navy Captain in a commanding posture, a sailor figure representing the training and execution of duties and the third figure is that of a Navy Combat Demolition Unit member, signifying those who proceeded the invasion clearing mines and other explosive devices.
Those who wish to learn more about the Navy D-Day Monument or contribute to its completion effort are invited to visit the Naval order of the United States website at www.navalorder.org.
McMeekin wanted to close with a personal plea to his former shipmates and all who are members of the naval service, “Much maligned France not only donated the site for the Monument, but also has committed to life-time daily care once it is in place. I am hoping all members of the Sea Services past and present will financially support this project and widely propagate our effort to remember the forgotten heroes of Normandy.”
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