A Word About Courage
Published June 06, 2006
It was 62 years ago that US Rangers stormed the cliffs of Pointe Du Hoc near Omaha Beach in Normandy, France. And as the veterans of that day grow oh so gray and bent, mere shadows of the lithe and limber youths who pulled themselves up the jagged bluffs, one hand over another, their comrades falling all about them, we are reminded that the word "courage" came alive that day.
Too often, we use that word in a base and cavalier way. A Hollywood movie star has "courage" because she revealed to the world that she's a drug addict. A comic has "courage" because he made fun of the President of the United States to his face. A filmmaker has "courage" because he made millions of dollars shooting a "documentary" which shows the US government complicit in the mass murder on 9/11.
And so instead of "courage" being a word with inexpressible significance and meaning beyond its simple definition, it has become a self congratulatory epithet, a hollowed out expression of empty promise and insincerity. Today, the purveyors of myth and shapers of opinion use the word to tell the rest of us who to admire and what to respect. No longer does courage imply sacrifice or a willingness to give all that one has for a cause greater than oneself. Instead, courage defines the selfish desires and overwrought egos of an ideology that sees more irony in the word than reverence.
All of this was in the future 62 years ago when the Rangers lived the word courage by taking the bluffs above the beach. And a short distance away at Omaha, Americans were dying, never knowing that their sacrifice was redefining the word courage for all time. For in their last bloody moments on earth, a titanic struggle was taking place between good and evil that 10,000 years from now, poets will still be singing songs about and human beings will still be shaking their heads at in wonder and awestruck disbelief.
It takes genuine courage to confront evil. By its very nature, evil must defend itself by lashing out and destroying anything that attempts to get in its path, lest it perish ignominiously. Those representing good realize this, which makes the confrontation between good and evil always a life threatening proposition and thus, an exercise in self-denial and sacrifice. The Rangers on the bluffs and the men in transports speeding toward bloody Omaha that terrible day 62 years ago knew full well what they were in for. They were willing to pay the price to defeat evil.
- A Word About Courage
- Published: June 06, 2006
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Culture
- Filed Under: Politics: War and Terrorism, Culture: History
- Writer: Rick Moran
- Rick Moran's BC Writer page
- Rick Moran's personal site
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Comments on this articleComments
Victor:
Thanks for your comment.
I too was puzzled by all this "6-6-6" nonsense today. I guess it shows where the media's priorities are more than anything else.
Me too on the 6-6-6 stuff. Lame news story.
Why was it called Omaha Beach? Was it named after the city in Nebraska or was it called that before?
Sis:
Interesting question. Since the other American beach was named Utah (the Brits landed on Sword and Gold while the Candians landed on Juno) I would have to guess that indeed it was named after the Nebraska town. But then, why name the other beach after a state?
Any help out there?
Wonderfully written--a nice corrective to the modern-day distortions that courage has been relegated to.
I'm fairly sure that all the codenames, operation names, etc., were chosen at random. They certainly weren't names anyone would have recognized before D-Day. Any intercepted references to Juno, Sword, Omaha, Utah, and Gold (the five beaches) wouldn't have provided usable information to the enemy.
Intelligence and counter-intelligence are vastly different than they used to be; nowadays we use names like "Desert Shield" and "Desert Storm". Sixty two years ago, when loose lips could actually sink ships, the priority was on misdirection.
The D-Day invasion was actually part of Operation Overlord, but at the time there were several Operations in the works for retaking Europe. There were radio signals, launching sites, and troop movements supporting all of them. It's just that all the others were fakes.
(I know all this trivia, but I'd forgotten that today is D-Day. Thanks for the reminder as well as for an inspiring article.)
Mr Moran. Thank you. As Gordon commented, Wonderfully written. Have so much I want to say concerning this. Will just sit back like a Neville Chamberlain and watch the comments. This Im allowed from the river of blood spilled for you and me from the greatest soldier's that allowed me to comment in English on BC. Just think at times if those brave soldier's could get just a glimpse at our nation today, would they have fulfilled their mission and give the ultimate sacrifice.
GOD BLESS THEM.
LACK OF COMMENTS. THINK THE US JUST DOESN'T GIVE A CRAP MR. MORAN? COUNT THE COMMENTS ON MEANINGFUL SUBJECTS FROM THE DICK CHICKENS TO THE WORLDS GREATEST NOSE PICKS. EXCUSE ME, I HAVE TO VOMIT.
Blogcritics. RIGHT ON.
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/48874)
Rick, this is amazingly on the money. I kept hearing all this BS about today being 6-6-6 day and all that (on TV and radio). I heard very little about D-Day. It is indeed more important to focus on true "courage" like that which you write about, especially on these brave men who confronted and defeated an evil that was threatening to undo the civilized world.
Bravo, Rick Moran! Thank you for a wonderful read.