A lesson for future generations

Kathalyn and Joseph Barnett scurried from frog ponds to beach shores Monday, doing what any ordinary 13-year-old and 11-year-old ought to do on a family trip. But this was no ordinary family trip, and there was much more for the kids to collect than clamshells, frogs and sand crabs. They collected what their father believes will be a lifelong memory and an understanding that boys not much older than them fell fighting for the liberation of others on the beaches they freely explored Monday.

Kathalyn and Joseph are the daughter and son of American Legion National Commander Dale Barnett and his wife Donna. The beaches they visited were far from ordinary. They were code-named Omaha and Utah in the D-Day invasion of World War II that led to the liberation of Europe from Axis tyranny. A weekend there, culminating with remembrance ceremonies at the Normandy American Cemetery and Pointe du Hoc, included the opportunity for the children to meet some of the veterans who fought in Normandy during the World War II invasion and to see the massive international appreciation of what the invasion meant to the future of a free world.

"I was so privilieged to share this with my children," Barnettt said as he watched Kathalyn search Utah Beach for tiny sand crabs and mussel shells. "It was an incredible day. These two middle-school aged children probably learned more in Normandy and Flanders Field (the commander's group visited the Flanders Field American Cemetery in Waregem, Belgium, before coming to Normandy) than they ever knew before about the history of what happened here."

Barnett joined American Legion Auxiliary National President Sharon Conatser in a day to remember, 72 years after Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy and began the continental Europe advance on the Third Reich. They led a wreath-laying ceremony at the Normandy American Cemetery that also included the American Overseas Memorial Day Association, the American Battle Monuments Commission and USAA, The American Legion's preferred provider of financial services. They followed that by participating in an official wreath-laying ceremony at Pointe du Hoc, at the monument perched on the tip of a cliff where U.S. Army Rangers climbed into enemy fire from above them 72 years ago.

As was the case at most events through the weekend, the national commander was struck by "the amount of interface we had with senior military leadership, active-duty troops and, most important, the veterans themselves." He was likewise impressed that more often than expected, officers, embassy officials and military troops recognized The American Legion emblem and thanked he and Conatser for all the organization does to support them. "I was taken aback by the prominence The American Legion is given here," Barnett said. "This occurred to me as I was seated between a four-star general and the U.S. Ambassador to France. That speaks volumes about The American Legion's message. It was also incredible the number of Legionnaires from across the country who came up to us to express their appreciation to The American Legion and Auxiliary, as well as local nationals who shared their appreciation that The American Legion family honors those who served, no matter when."

Conatser said she saw the D-Day anniversary events and activities as "an entire community of nations coming together. It's really powerful." Paratroopers from several countries were in Normandy to conduct exhibition jumps and to visit the monuments, memorials and graves. "Sharing time with the active-duty military was really important to me," Conatser said. "And, I was really emotional at the Normandy American Cemetery, which caught me a little off guard. The stories of families really resonate with me."

An ABMC guide told the story of the cemetery and the more than 9,300 Americans laid to rest there by telling anecdotes and photos of particular families who lost loved ones in the Normandy battles. At Pointe du Hoc, the commander and president spent some of the time waiting for the ceremony to begin by visiting with a bomber pilot who was flying just his sixth mission when the orders came to soften the battlefield on D-Day.

"When you think about places like Pearl Harbor and Normandy, you certainly think about all the lives lost," Conatser said. "Then you have to remember what might have happened if not for them."

Such is the lesson of Normandy and its observances, for generations who will grow up without ever knowing anyone who served in World War II.