2019 -- S 0956

========

LC002774

========

     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2019

____________

S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

MEMORIALIZING AND COMMEMORATING THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE D-

DAY LANDINGS IN NORMANDY, FRANCE, AND THE EVENTUAL LIBERATION OF

EUROPE

     Introduced By: Senators Felag, Ruggerio, Raptakis, and Metts

     Date Introduced: June 06, 2019

     Referred To: Recommended for Immediate Consideration

     WHEREAS, On June 6, 1944, 156,000 courageous young American, British and

Canadian troops began the liberation of Europe when they landed on the beaches in Normandy,

France, that now live forever in history. They were code-named Gold Beach, Juno Beach, Sword

Beach, Utah Beach, and most famously, Omaha Beach, where American soldiers faced a

cauldron of withering enemy fire, deep water, choppy waves, and suffered enormous casualties

before eventually prevailing and breaching General Rommel’s “Atlantic Wall”; and

     WHEREAS, Additionally, during the night before the fateful invasion, thousands of

heroic airborne troops, including the vaunted American 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, were

dropped from the sky behind enemy lines across the Normandy region in order to secure vital

objectives. They too suffered casualties on the day we now call “The Longest Day”; and

     WHEREAS, Before the Allied Invasion of France, Europe had suffered through the

darkest four-year period in its history. Hitler’s Nazi armies had conquered and enslaved Norway,

Belgium, France, Poland, Greece, the Netherlands, Denmark, Czechoslovakia and the former

Yugoslavia. At the same time, the Nazis were ruthlessly murdering six million Jews and countless

others in the death camps they ran throughout Europe; and

     WHEREAS, The D-Day Normandy landing was also the largest amphibious assault in

world history, and included 5,000 ships and 11,000 aircraft sorties flown by allied pilots. It was

simply the most important military operation in world history and if it had failed, unimaginable

consequences would have followed. The war in Europe would certainly have lasted much longer

than its ending in May of 1945, even more people would have perished in the death camps, and

democracy might have permanently died in Europe either through a forced negotiated truce with

the Nazis or to a conquering Russian Army, instead of the liberating forces of the American,

British and Canadian armies that freed Western Europe in 1945; and

     WHEREAS, On the fateful day, thousands of brave American and Allied soldiers, most

of them surely terrified of what might have awaited them, risked everything to free Europe from

the clutches of the evil Nazi regime, and to preserve and protect all the freedoms we cherish

today. Thanks to the efforts of these men, many of whom perished, today Europe enjoys the kind

of freedom and prosperity that was unimaginable 75 years ago, and America remains the most

free nation on Earth; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

hereby memorializes and commemorates the 75th Anniversary of the D-Day landings on

Normandy, on June 6, 2019. May we never forget the sacrifices made by so many courageous

young American and Allied soldiers in support of the noble causes of freedom and liberty; and be

it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to the Rhode Island Adjutant General, Major

General Christopher P. Callahan.

========

LC002774

========

LC002774 - Page 2 of 2