Page 6 of Rascal

Rascal marveled at the change in his son. It choked him up a little. “I appreciate that.”

Rascal was saved from saying more as the SUVs with the women showed up. Bear took Joey out of his arms. “Go get your woman.”

“I’m not sure she’s ready to be my woman yet.”

“Then convince her.”

Rascal chuckled. Bear had certainly changed, and he was grateful his son had a family and a woman he loved deeply. Rascal could admit he was a little jealous and hoping that Meg was the one for him. Every fiber of his being was screaming at him to tie her to him and never let her go.

She stepped out of the SUV. If he thought she looked beautiful in jeans, she was stunning dressed up. She had on a long jean skirt paired with a red three-quarter sleeve blouse with cutouts along the neckline. He wasn’t sure what the shirt was called, but he definitely wanted to buy her more of them. They highlighted her bustline and her full figure. The shirt was tucked in to the jean skirt. She had a wide white belt with silver stars on it, which matched a white headband holding her hair back from her face. She had dark sunglasses covering her eyes. She was quite the stylish woman and so not what he’d pictured for himself, but she had him falling for her.

He grinned and walked over to her. “You look gorgeous.”

She smiled and pulled her sunglasses off. Her eyes ran down him and back up. “You look pretty hot yourself. How am I supposed to concentrate on my speech when you look like that?”

He chuckled. Her time around the women had relaxed her, and he was thankful for that. He tugged her closer and decided who the heck cared who saw them. He captured her lips, letting her know how pleased her words made him.

Meg fanned her face and took her place on the stage. After Rascal’s kiss had set her on fire, she’d had to calm down so she could help get all the bags to the registration table. People had started arriving in the last half hour. She was speaking first, then Rascal.

She hoped her speech was okay. Speaking in front of crowds wasn’t her forte. In front of her classes, she was in her element. Here, she already had sweat forming on her back from her nerves.

War and Remi stepped up to the mic. “We, along with all the Bluff Creek Brotherhood MC family, would like to welcome you to our commemoration ceremony of the 80th Anniversary of D-Day. We’d like to welcome our speaker, Dr. Margaret Jamison who teaches American War history and is an expert on the history of D-Day. Please help us make her feel welcome.”

Meg made her way to the podium and let the clapping die down.

“Thank you. I was pleased when I received a call to come speak at this commemoration ceremony. As a lover of history and especially conflict history of our troops, I’m always happy to talk about my favorite subjects. I think making history real to others is one of the greatest ways we can teach future generations. Others earned for us the rights we have.

I wanted to start today with some statistics. On June 6, 1944, approximately 160,000 Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy from the air and from the sea. To date, it is still the largest seaborne invasion in history. It included six thousand ships and landing crafts, fifty thousand vehicles and eleven thousand planes. American troops counted for about 73,000 of those who stormed the beach. Of those troops, approximately 13,100 American paratroopers from the 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions, along with 3,937 glider infantrymen, were dropped in.

I’d like to put it in perspective for you. If the 73,000 American troops came from cities in Kansas today, you would need all the people in the following cities: Bluff Creek, Dodge City, Meade, Medicine Lodge, Coldwater, Greensburg, Emporia and my hometown of Slate City. It was a massive undertaking. To me, in this age of computers, it boggles my mind that they accomplished this huge undertaking without the technology we have today. No drones or satellites giving up to the minute changes.

Estimates total that of the 160,000 Allied troops storming the beaches, more than 9,000 Allied troops died on day one. They were sons. They were fathers. They were brothers. They were patriots and heroes.

Without D-Day, we might be standing in a different America today. It’s credited with turning the tide of the war. I personally believe that the sacrifices of these brave individuals need to be taught in every high school in America. Without their brave service, who knows what would have happened. Although eighteen was the minimum age for enlistment and seventeen was allowed with parental consent, younger individuals signed up because they felt called to serve, faking their age to enlist.

D-Day had to have the right conditions to have a chance at succeeding. It needed clear weather with a near full-moon to guide ships. D-Day was actually set for June 5th, but a weathercast showed that the day didn’t have ideal conditions. General Eisenhower moved D-Day to the next day, June 6th. I wonder, thinking about all those who served, how they dealt with the letdown of postponement. Did worry fill their minds, or did they spend time with the men they were friends with? Did they sleep, or was the night plagued with thinking through what they would do the next day? They would have done all the things the military does before deployment, including making sure their life insurance beneficiaries were up to date because surviving the day wasn’t guaranteed.

D-Day also didn’t go quite as planned. With over fifty miles of shoreline, the areas were divided into beaches. US troops were in charge of taking Omaha Beach and Utah Beach. Thousands of US paratroopers died during their drop to Utah Beach. Some were shot out of the sky and others died by missing landing spots or being dragged down in marshlands. Some seaborne forces also missed their landing spots due to strong currents.

Despite all this, US troops were still able to advance and make headway. For some, this was the first time they’d ever seen combat and still they pushed through.

Today, we commemorate the eightieth anniversary of D-Day. When individuals answered the call to fight back against a dictator and brave individuals turned the tide and changed history so that others may be liberated. May we always appreciate their sacrifice and never forget their bravery.”

Meg nodded at the applause and walked back to her seat.

“You did a great job.” Rascal patted her shoulder as he took her place at the podium.

“Thank you, Dr. Jamison. My name is Rascal Carter and I’m a member of the Bluff Creek Brotherhood MC. I’m not usually one to speak in front of crowds, but this was one of those times when I couldn’t stay quiet. Today’s activities started as a conversation. I decided to give up a storage building I’d had for years since my parents had passed. I took a truck, loaded all the stuff in, came home, and did what most men would do. I piled it all in another storage area and ignored it. Then, my daughter-in-law asked about pictures from when her husband was younger. You know where this is going, right?” Rascal paused for the laughter to die down. “I’d put the older boxes in front of all the things of my son’s. Luckily, my daughter-in-law, who I consider my daughter, is one of five sisters. These fierce women are a part of my family, so I ended up with bonus daughters. They took pity on this old man and decided to organize my stuff. Honestly, one of the reasons I’d never touched the boxes was because my parents died in a car crash while I was overseas serving. Going through their stuff brought back how much I missed them. It was the second day of them sorting through my stuff. Winnie, who was the one that started all this, walked in with an old picture.

When she asked who it was, I remembered my dad talking about his brother that I’d never met. My uncle served and died during WWII. He was eighteen when he died. He wanted to serve his country and wasn’t going to let an age requirement hold him back. He’d joined when he was sixteen.

I thought about how he, along with so many other men, had such a profound impact on my life. This man who should have still been in high school had helped change the world for me. If these young men had not answered the call of a nation, our world could look very different today.

Later that evening we were enjoying barbecued ribs and chicken with so many sides the table was groaning. We’d been discussing the items we’d found. Beth, another of my bonus daughters, brought up how not only had they served but as the war went on, they’d served in conditions they weren’t prepared for. There wasn’t enough food because supplies were hard to come by. Their uniforms weren’t made for cold weather, so when it turned cold, they did what they had to do to survive. They persevered.

We can’t go back and tell them how much their sacrifices meant to us. So many gave their lives for us, and those that didn’t give their lives, came home forever changed. What we can do is commemorate the sacrifice they made so that we, and others, might live free.

As you participate in the activities planned for this weekend, I ask that you pause and appreciate the freedoms we enjoy today because of the courage of so many people who didn’t know us but knew freedom was worth fighting for.”

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