This is a day between. There are several events we commemorate, others at which we marvel, and others unfolding to an uncertain future. In this moment, we have declared a minor victory in creativity. We think we have found a break point in this saga of America’s march toward an uncertain future. The manuscript to “Living in the Fall” has lurched to a conclusion, of sorts, and the concluding volume will march forward from the LawFare in which a leading candidate or the Presidency is vulnerable to for sentence to Riker’s Island for his impertinence. We anticipate, based on that remarkable development that the next few months will merit some discussion. So stand by as we march from “NOW” to “NEXT.”

It is more comforting to take hope from the “PAST.” This day marks one between two historic victories. Yesterday, the initial salvos of the greatest naval battle ever fought began, eighty-three years ago. Our pal Mac Showers was one of the young men who unraveled the secrets to make surprise possible against the Empire of the Sun. Three years later, troops massed in tiny landing craft lurched in the gray waves of the English Channel as they confronted German guns on the dunes above the beach at Normandy. Our Uncle Dick was piloting his olive-drab bomber, ‘Buzzin’ Betsy’ to support them with high explosives delivered from the air.

You can see the panorama of today has cloaked the memory of past sacrifice, so let’s remove it to help recall those who gave us the chance to live our rich lives. This is a significant day for those who fought in Europe. It is the 80th anniversary of the landings at Normandy, and we salute them. There is the extraordinary news that a handful of the men who landed have returned to commemorate the sacrifices of those who did not survive that long-ago day. The oldest of them is reported to be 107.

The actual anniversaries of the victories are strewn across the last month or more. We used to meet our distinguished friend Mac Showers across the street from his retirement home to discuss the events at Station HYPO when they teased out the secret of the Japanese Battle Plan to conquer the Pacific. Under Joe Rochefort and led by Admiral Chester Nimitz, they came up with the definitive clues that would convince Admiral Nimitz to roll the dice with everything he had. The maximum force applied with maximum intensity at the point of attack enabled the victory.

That decision combined with the incredible courage of the aviators of the torpedo squadrons made history. They lined up, one-by-one, to be shot down as they lined up at low altitude to attempt to bring their steel fish to bear. As the Japanese combat air patrol swooped down to shoot them, the SBD Dauntless dive bombers of Wade McClusky appeared overhead to provide the most memorable five minutes of combat action of the war.

The Battle off Midway raged between 4-7 June, 1942. God Bless the memories of the aviators from USS Enterprise (CV-6), USS Hornet (CV-8), and USS Yorktown (CV-5) and the Marine and Air Corps pilots stationed on Midway. Alerted by the codebreaking of Joe Rochefort’s team of men like Mac Showers, they destroyed the pride of the Japanese fleet, and began the march west to Victory.

Today also encompasses the beginning of the massive movement of the forces toward Normandy. Timing was based on a meteorologic uncertainty forcing the decision to proceed to rest soley on the shoulders of Dwight Eisenhower. He decided to “Go,” and ordered the ships to turn east in the channel, his aircraft to fly and the massed troops to land.

Uncle Dick attended the flight brief that morning with the scheme of invasion laid out for the crews he would join in the vast stream of aircraft headed for the Continent. On take-off, mechanical problems would normally have caused them to jettison the cargo of bombs and return safely to base for repairs. Instead, Dick decided to press on, notified his crew on the intercom and proceeded to bomb the German tanks behind the beach to save the lives of those landing. He won the Distinguished Flying Cross that morning.

Mac told the audience about the challenging process of his team’s intelligence work leading up to the battle. “It took time, and it took talent, and it took research, and it took a lot of effort on the part of a lot of people,” he said in his prepared remarks. He has unbelievable stamina, and this was only one of four major addresses they expect him to make on the Island.

I wish Mac and Uncle Dick were still among us, and that the famed Willow Restaurant’s doors were open. But today, in these strange times, at least we can remember. And hope we have the same courage with which they faced their days that led to Victory.

Copyright 2024 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com