On 5/25/19 1:03 AM, Walter Bright wrote:
On 5/24/2019 9:00 PM, Mike Franklin wrote:
On Saturday, 25 May 2019 at 03:22:50 UTC, Murilo wrote:
On the 6th of June(6/6) we celebrate the D day on Normandy, but I
have decided to turn it into our own holiday to celebrate the D
language.
I'm sure you mean well, but I will be spending D-Day remembering the
sacrifice of these men:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandy_landings#/media/File:Normandy_American_Cemetery_and_Memorial,_June_2012.jpg
Perhaps you could find a way to use the D language to honor them.
I think it's alright. I was invited to teach a D seminar in Holland a
few years back around Memorial Day. They were happy to conflate the two
(it was their idea), and the Dutch revere the sacrifice of the Allies on
D-Day.
My father was a D-Day veteran, too, and I very much doubt he would have
been offended by it. My Dutch friends were thrilled to find out my
father was a vet, and they certainly would have shown him a good time
had he come along. They even gave me some D-Day gifts.
The D for D-Day thing was all in good fun all around.
When I was a boy nobody cared my father was a vet. Everyone's dad was a
vet. My neighbor next door was a paratrooper who'd lost his leg. My
dad's best friend had his face burned off. It was kinda normal.
But in his later years, people started to acknowledge the remaining
veterans, and my father really enjoyed that. If you are lucky enough to
know one, tell him thanks. You'll make his day.
Wise words, but I'll add another perspective also worth noting:
My grandfather and *at least* one (to my immediate knowledge) of my
great uncles were WW2 veterans. For all I know, they could have been
D-Day, or any other involvement, but nobody in our family would ever
know because they made a point of never talking about it (hence my
uncertainty about how many more there may have been). One of them even
declined a major award (purple star or metal of honor, was never clear
on which)...or maybe it was that he was sent one, but never acknowledged
it...either way, same sentiment.
They're both gone now for unrelated old-age reasons, but from what I've
been able to piece together, the idea was that their participation was
something that needed to be done, but should NEVER involve taking pride
in - as that would be an unethical validation of war and the unspeakable
actions that it made necessary. (That, and the whole "true heroes don't
survive" thing.) Frankly, I think that's a rather appropriate attitude
to take toward such service.
