Operation Neptune

Sunrise hidden behind the clouds,
A sea so gray and drear.
Brave men, all, who landed there
Would face their greatest fear.

Human waves of stalwart souls
Came to liberate the oppressed.
But, costs ran high and men would die,
On shores in the Northwest.

Freedom’s call had brought them
To stop Hitler’s crazed advance.
Allied forces planned and launched
An assault to regain France.

Bodies, guns and spent ammo
Littered sandy blood-soaked dunes.
2,000 U.S. lives extinguished
On D-day, the 6th of June.

A world away from home and hearth
On distant foreign land,
Was forged a sanguinary battlefield
To defeat Rommel and Rhineland.

Beaches called by strange names-
Omaha, Utah, Juno, Sword, and Gold
Now almost forgotten
Left many tales untold.

Tales of brave men fallen,
Tales of men wounded, yet survived,
Tales of those left to tell the tales,
Tales that should be revived.

Time and tide have washed away
Red stains on white shoreline.
Blue skies often replace the gray
Over Neptune’s frothy brine.

In Colleville-sur-Mer in Normandy
Rowed with honor and with pride,
Within site of a now tranquil beach
Stand graves of those who died.


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