This month the Elks honored our hospitalized veterans with a visitation to the VA Hospital in Reno and by placing flags at the graves of those who have honorably served our country at Eastside Memorial Park.
I recently returned from a trip to Europe where I visited some World War II battle sights and memorials.
The Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial is in Cambridge, England. This cemetery is dedicated to those bomber and fighter crews who were in the Army Air Corps. Over 3,800 crosses and Stars of David are evidence of the ultimate sacrifice made by those men and women. More astoundingly, there is a "Wall of the Missing" that contains more than 5,000 names. The casualties suffered in bomber command during the war were almost 50 percent.
Significant of the sacrifices of the GI's in WWII is bomb-scared Pointe du Hoc, on the Normandy Coast, where army rangers ascended the cliffs to take out the guns there and sweep the area clean of the German forces. Of the 200 who landed and began climbing that cliff, 90 survived.
Omaha Beach left me speechless. I tried to visualize June 6, 1944, and how much open ground (about a half-mile) the men who landed there had to cross, exposed to enemy fire from the high ground above the sand, to reach some cover. The cemetery above that beach is the final resting-place for over 9,000 men and women who died in the Battle of Normandy. There is a wall there too, that holds the names of another 1,500 who are missing in action or unidentified.
But Normandy today is a place that is lush and green. The once battle-scared landscape is a testament that there is hope for the future. Where men and women once gave their lives there now exist parks and memorials to testify to their contribution. My visit to Normandy brought tears to my eyes, knowing that these men and women paid the ultimate price so that you and I could continue to live in freedom.
And so, my fellow citizens, this month let us pay homage not only to those members of the greatest generation who gave their lives so long ago, but also to those men and women in uniform today who protect us and our freedoms by going in harm's way on our behalf.
n Walt Nowosad is a retired Navy senior chief petty officer, member of the Elks and a Douglas County resident.
