D-Day 60th Anniversary

Today is the 60th Anniversary of D-Day. 14,000 Canadian soldiers landed on Juno beach sixty years ago today. Another 450 soldiers parachuted behind enemies lines, supported by the Canadian Air Force up above it all. We may not have been the biggest force, as there were many more Americans and British present, but the Canadian forces gave their all. Eventually, forces from other countries, like Australia, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Poland, joined the fighting.

So what does D-Day mean? D stands for nothing more then day. In fact, in French it is referred to as Jour-J (jour being the word for day). Since the exact time of the operation wasn't known for most of the planning, it was easier to refer to it as D-Day, rather then by a date.

If you are interested, CBC has a site set up about the Canadian involvement in D-Day: CBC News: D-Day Indepth Backgrounder.

As for the other big event of the day, Ronald Reagan's death, I must say I am a little sad. He is the first American President I remember. I can't say I always agreed with the things he did, nor do I agree with all the things being said about him. (The way CNN talks about him, you would think he personally took down the Berlin Wall brick by brick. I guess those Germans had nothing to do with it.) For a Canadian view on Reagan's presidency and legacy, here is another CBC article: America's movie star president.