Agincourt and Omaha; Meditations     on D-Day

On each D-Day, Day of Remembrance, amid the pomp and parades and the poignant, tearful stories of the veterans of that terrible day in June, so many years ago; the words Shakespeare puts into Henry V just prior to the battle of Agincourt, come to mind.

They are appropriate, it seems to me,  to reflect upon and far more applicable so to the brave men who fought on the beaches of northern France, than they were to the troops referred to in Shakespeare’s play.

Henry V sought dukedoms and wealth. But Ike’s soldiers, sailors and airmen sought something far more noble;-- nothing less than the liberation of Europe.

But the remembrance of brave deeds past, are sometimes lost in the fickleness of memory; Shakespeare’s Henry addresses his troops on this issue:

“Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names,
(be) Familiar in his mouth as household words”.

**

From this day to the ending of the world,
(We) in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

Shakespeare is telling us, I think, that yes, men who have done heroic deeds, if they survive them, grow old and their memories can fade. In fact, some veterans of the battle for Normandy, simply blacked out the more horrific events they witnessed that day, (and other equally horrific days), so at wars end, they could adjust better to civilian life.

But this won’t do. To black out a bad memory means that upon a veteran’s death, the living history of what it means to be in battle is lost to posterity. I think Shakespeare means to say that memory is not enough; we the living, must foster memory; must keep alive the record of heroic sacrifice. Shakespeare keeps  Agincourt, alive in his play; it is up to us to keep alive the memory of Normandy for future generations.

As to those who did not survive Normandy, Shakespeare gives us  these words, as applicable to the dead of June 6, as they were to the dead of the battle of Agincourt.

Henry V tells Montjoy, the French representative (who urges Henry not to fight):

“Many of our bodies shall no doubt
Find native graves; upon the which, I trust,
Shall witness live in brass of this day's work:
And those that leave their valiant bones in France,
Dying like men, though buried ….
They shall be famed; for there the sun shall greet them,
And draw their honours…..up to heaven;

On June 6 let us all honor the memory  of D-Day.   

And never, ever  forget.

Punditwalla--