Lest we Forget!

62 years ago today, freedoms battalions landed on the shores of the beaches of Normandy.

From Utah, Gold, Omaha, Sword and Juno they poured ashore, many to be cut down on the sand; others to push inland eventually pushing Nazi Germany to the end of a long, bloody and brutal war to end all wars.

We tend to take our freedoms for granted these days, giving nary a thought to the sacrifices of those that went before us. But 62 years ago, June 6, 1944, brothers in arms made their declaration that enough was enough for the evil that Nazism had brought to this world.

The D-Day invasion was one of the great moments of not only military but world history, nations united as one took horrible risks to begin the process of pushing the Nazi machine out of Europe and liberating millions of people who had been forced to live under it's yoke.

On that day, 340 Canadians died, 574 were wounded and 74 were taken prisoner. Within six days 1,017 would be dead and by the time the Normandy campaign had come to an end 5,020 Canadians had died in the heat of battle.

They were a valiant and proud group, who selflessly gave of themselves so others could live free. We should take a moment to remember their sacrifices, our freedoms were guaranteed with their blood.