Dear Friends,
Today marks the 73rd Anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy. This turning point in World War II gave hope to the world that the Nazi hold on Europe would soon end. But as we all know this victory was not made without great sacrifice. Last week, for Memorial Day, I had the honor of speaking at the Normandy American Cemetery about the American heroism and the sacrifice of the allied forces that day.
Below is an excerpt from that speech, highlighting an Arkansas hero who lost his life in service to his country on D-Day:
At 5:52 in the morning of June 6, 1944, in a position about 4,000 yards from Omaha Beach, one of the oldest ships in the Navy, a World War I Battleship, the USS Arkansas, opened fire on German positions on Omaha Beach in support of the more than 30,000 American GIs tasked with securing that beachhead.
Arkansas native Private First Class Gene Sellers was a standout in high school and accepted a football scholarship from the University of Arkansas, but before the end of his first year, he heard the call to serve and enlisted in the 101st Airborne.
Early on the 6th, long before the USS Arkansas’s 12 inch guns opened up, Private Sellers was a member of the Pathfinder unit, which had the vital mission to drop in behind enemy lines just before the main airborne assault and hours before the first wave of soldiers landed at the beaches. Mission: to set up drop zone lights and radar to guide the arriving C-47’s filled with paratroopers.
Like many other paratroopers that day, Private Sellers’, in the seventh plane -- his drop did not go as planned. He was killed after his parachute drifted too close to a German unit. He would be the first of more than 4,000 Allied soldiers to make the ultimate sacrifice on that -- the 'Longest Day.'
Click the image to watch Rep. Hill's entire speech at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. |
Following the ceremony, Martha and I visited Private Sellers’ grave at the beautiful cemetery that is the final resting place for over 9,000 American GIs. It's a chilling thought to imagine what the world could have become without the brave men who stormed the beaches that day; the heroes like Private Sellers saved Europe and rid world of the Nazi menace.
I will be forever grateful for their service.
Sincerely,
Representative French Hill |
