Today is the 76th anniversary of D-Day. That invasion by 156,000 Allied forces on the beaches of Normandy was the largest seaborne invasion in history. There were 10,000 casualties, and 4,414 soldiers lost their lives, but the war in Europe was over just 10 months later. My father Nelson and his friend Ed, both dentists, were drafted late in the war, and missed taking part in this battle, thank God. My father was sent to Okinawa and served as a dentist in what people now know as a MASH unit, pulling teeth and dodging snipers and typhoons. He can be seen in the photograph above in the middle row on the far right. His friend Ed, on the other hand, was sent to Paris and spent his time as an army dentist there. My mother Mary tells me that my father actually liked his time in the army. It was a break from the routine of doing a job he hated. I must say, being sent to Paris instead of Okinawa would have been much more preferable, but my father was no complainer, God bless his soul.
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