JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG

WELCOME TO THE OFFICIAL RICHARD E GERSTEIN JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG. THIS BLOG IS DEDICATED TO JUSTICE BUILDING RUMOR, HUMOR, AND A DISCUSSION ABOUT AND BETWEEN THE JUDGES, LAWYERS AND THE DEDICATED SUPPORT STAFF, CLERKS, COURT REPORTERS, AND CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS WHO LABOR IN THE WORLD OF MIAMI'S CRIMINAL JUSTICE. POST YOUR COMMENTS, OR SEND RUMPOLE A PRIVATE EMAIL AT HOWARDROARK21@GMAIL.COM. Winner of the prestigious Cushing Left Anterior Descending Artery Award.

Friday, June 06, 2008

D DAY


UTAH. OMAHA. GOLD. SWORD. JUNO.

Hallowed ground.


It was so bad at Omaha beach it was referred to as “bloody Omaha.”

The Boys of Pointe Du Hoc. US Army Rangers who climbed cliffs straight into the teeth of blazing machine guns.

The PIRs of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. The 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, famous for being called The band Of Brothers, and their text book assault of
Brecourt Manor led by Lt. Dick Winters. To this day, the operation is taught and studied at military academies.

There would tough days ahead. The winter of 1944 would test our citizen soldiers like no other. But tyranny’s grip on Europe would be wrested away starting June 6, 1944.


In 1984, at Normandy, President Reagan gave his famous “Boys of Pointe Du Hoc” Speech:



Forty summers have passed since the battle that you fought here. You were young the day you took these cliffs; some of you were hardly more than boys, with the deepest joys of life before you. Yet, you risked everything here. Why? Why did you do it? What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these cliffs? What inspired all the men of the armies that met here? We look at you, and somehow we know the answer. It was faith and belief; it was loyalty and love.

The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead or on the next. It was the deep knowledge--and pray God we have not lost it--that there is a profound, moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt.

You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One's country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you.

The Americans who fought here that morning knew word of the invasion was spreading through the darkness back home. They thought--or felt in their hearts, though they couldn't know in fact, that in Georgia they were filling the churches at 4 a.m., in Kansas they were kneeling on their porches and praying, and in Philadelphia they were ringing the Liberty Bell.

Something else helped the men of D-Day: their rock-hard belief that Providence would have a great hand in the events that would unfold here; that God was an ally in this great cause.

And so, the night before the invasion, when Colonel Wolverton asked his parachute troops to kneel with him in prayer he told them: Do not bow your heads, but look up so you can see God and ask His blessing in what we're about to do. Also that night, General Matthew Ridgway on his cot, listening in the darkness for the promise God made to Joshua: "I will not fail thee nor forsake thee.''
These are the things that impelled them; these are the things that shaped the unity of the Allies.
..


And these are the men we remember today.
“Thank you” just doesn’t seem to begin to express the debt we all owe.




22 comments:

Anonymous said...

The more you write, the more I want you. It's as simple as that. Did you get the picture I sent yesterday? You can have all that and more. Just ask.

Anonymous said...

Democracy and belief in god(s) have nothing to do with each other. To link them was and is fatuous. And when one examines the 200 year arc of our democracy, one concludes that perhaps democracy as it has been known and practiced here is not so honorable after all, and that perhaps therefore, one shouldn't be so self-satisfied as Reagan was.

Anonymous said...

Great post Rumpole. Wonderful thoughts. As a measure of this blog's impact on popular culture, I Googled several blog terms. Go ahead and Google "shumie time" for instance and see the way it has invaded our culture.

Rump- you seem to know it all. Who should Obama and McCain choose as running mates. Not "who will they?" but "who should they?" and why?

Rumpole said...

my dear young lady:

You must simply stop. perhaps the idea of the unattainable has you all hot and bothered. In any event, you may well be running up against indecency laws with your photographs, which would clearly appeal to the prurient interests of most communities.

Anonymous said...

Dammit Rump -- if you are definitely turning the hottie down, at least publish a blurred out copy of the photo.

Anonymous said...

Has anyone ever considered the possibility that Rumpole is a woman? Or a gay man?

Batman said...

Thanks to "The Greatest Generation."

If you have never gone to the U.S. Cemetary at Normandy than you are failing to take one of the great pilgrimages an American can make. It is impossible to not be moved to tears as you walk among the neatly aligned rows of crosses and stars, look at the names and realize the sacrifice of youth that took place on the beaches below.

Walk down to the beach and look up towards where you had just been. Imagine barbed wire, tank obstacles, machine gun nests and mortars going off all around you. Look back into the sea and imagine the floating dismembered bodies of friends and comrades as your officers tell you to move forward and up the embankment toward men who are determined to take your life. Imagine for the first time firing your weapon with the intent to kill.

These were frightened yet brave young men who knew what was at stake and that yet unborn generations were counting on them. There are not many of them left. If you know one, today is a day to walk up to him, shake his hand and say thank you.

Anonymous said...

For a completely different and apolitical view from a soldier's perspective of the two great military conflicts of the 20th century, read "The Great War and Modern Memory" and "Wartime: Understanding and Behavior in the Second World War" by Paul Fussell. Think the government lies now about war. It is nothing compared to WWII.

Anonymous said...

Great Post Rumplole !!!
We all owe a debt to the men and women who serve now and who served back then so that we can remain free.
I am shocked that the Miami Herald neglected to print an article commemorating the D-Day invasion. There was one picture on the last page of the Metro section that was sqeezed in beside the weekend event list and summary of daily events. Shameful.
No doubt there was a breaking Britany Spears story or a sighting of an overpaid athelete at an overpriced restaurant that required the headline and column space.
This is what so called journalism has sunk to in this town when our only paper
devotes time and space to losers vs. people who actually stand for something and make a difference.
Every reader of your blog should be outraged and take the time to write a letter to the editor of the Herald shaming them for their failure to report on and remind their readers of the sacrifices that were made on June 6th, 1944.

Thanks for listening

Anonymous said...

hey- remeber when the blog talked about law and issues at REGB?

Anonymous said...

Switch off your shield
Switch off and feel

Anonymous said...

Publish the pictures!

Anonymous said...

If you think Miami is alone....


Louisville Courier-Journal (Kentucky) – Public Advocacy to cut legal services to poor – Deborah Yetter – (Wednesday, May 28, 2008) –
Kentucky public defenders will begin refusing to represent some poor people charged with crimes starting July 1 as a result of budget cuts.

Ernie Lewis, head of the state Department of Public Advocacy, detailed cuts in services he said his agency plans to make in a letter he sent Friday to judges throughout Kentucky.

The budget lawmakers passed earlier this year will force the agency to leave vacant 30 to 40 lawyers’ positions, Lewis said in the letter, adding “I hope to avoid layoffs.”

Anonymous said...

COME ON RUMP don't hold out on us share the photo !!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Reagan's speech personifies leadership

Anonymous said...

Black Friday @ The PD's Office? I heard several attorneys were fired or resigned; say it ain't so!

Anonymous said...

No firings or unusual resignations. Sorry to disappoint you.

Anonymous said...

Googling "shumie time" gives these FOUR (4) results:

JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG: HERALD SCOOPEDshumie time shum shum shumie time. Saturday, May 03, 2008 3:52:00 PM; eyeonmigna said... Speaking of songs, here's the scene: A small bar in Homestead. ...
justicebuilding.blogspot.com/2008/05/herald-scooped.html - 85k - Cached - Similar pages

JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG: HERALD SCOOPED21 comments:. Anonymous said... It's summertime, and the livin's easy. A lazy Saturday. It's Shumie time shumie time shum shum shumie time. ...
justicebuilding.blogspot.com/2008/05/herald-scooped.html?showComment=1210135620000 - 85k - Cached - Similar pages
More results from justicebuilding.blogspot.com »

A130 : a song for you « Crayon Kakaksame2 shumie… time kaseh kembali… :). budin ahaks. ukan sajak, lagu jepun ni :D. kak azy mekaseh ye kak… ;). fairuzmokti huhu. jgn windu kite yek… :p ...
crayonkakak.wordpress.com/2007/12/27/a-song-for-you/ - 53k - Cached - Similar pages

Blogger: JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG - Post a CommentEvery afternoon at 5pm is SHUMIE time. Friday, April 04, 2008 5:37:00 PM. Anonymous IONQ said. ..... I wish it was Shumie time already. (sigh) ...
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19039943&postID=6180960261979929737 - 91k - Cached - Similar pages

Anonymous said...

they need to let some of those folks go over at the law office of benny h. brummer. sorry to disappoint you

Anonymous said...

She must be a hooker alright...

Anonymous said...

Rumpole is Carlos Martinez?

Anonymous said...

My uncle died on that beach years before I was born.

I was told he was a great guy and I wish I had been given a chance to meet him but, he made my freedom possible and for that I feel that I know him now and forever.

53 year old defense atty