D-Day: Why Today Is A Good Day To Reflect And Be Thankful

The Most Difficult Journey:

Imagine that you are 18 years old, you have just left your home to cross the Atlantic and you find yourself in a foreign country for the first time in your life. You have just woken up on June 6th, 1944, and you are gathering your things, for what may be your last ever journey, crossing the English channel to enter enemy occupied territories either by boat or parachuting from an airplane.

You know fully well that many of your friends and fellow soldiers are not coming back across the channel once the mission is done. As you finish up with your gear, you stare at an old and cracked photograph of your folks back home, pausing for a minute, reflecting and hoping that you will see them again. Your superior officer comes into the barracks, and everyone rushes into formation, so you fold up the photo and put it in your front shirt pocket.

As the airplane engines start up, you look around, and you see many reciting prayers, and the all-around facial expressions of discomfort and nervousness are evident. Some even look like they are going to throw up, and you try your best to keep it together and get your mind ready for the mission ahead of you.

That's All, Brother - Photo by Helena Stefánsdóttir

Putting Things Into Perspective:

I was fortunate enough to fly aboard one such airplane 75 years later, when I welcomed the D-Day Squadron and the Commemorative Air Force to Iceland through my work at Ace FBO in Reykjavík, Iceland. It was not just any aircraft, it was the plane that led the D-Day Invasion, That's All, Brother. It was a part of a group of pathfinder planes that led the invasion, dropping paratroopers into German-occupied France.

As we were about to board the plane, taking us from Keflavík International Airport (BIKF), to Reykjavík Domestic Airport (BIRK), one of the pilots gave us a short briefing before entering the plane. As he briefed us about the history and significance of this aircraft, I must admit, I had goosebumps all over my body. In particular, what stuck with me was the following:

"We have to remember those young soldiers' sacrifice on that day (D-Day), they knew fully well that there was going to be a lot of casualties in Normandy.

But they went there anyway, to fight for our freedom, to fight for what they believed was right.

We should not forget the sacrifice they made on that day.

Every time the bureaucrats try to take away a piece of our freedom, they are dishonoring the lives of those who that made the ultimate sacrifice that day."

Legend Airways - Photo by Helena Stefánsdóttir

By contrast, our everyday struggles seem so insignificant, so mundane. I wonder what those who still remember the war say about today's made up worries about getting likes, comments, and followers on social media. How times have changed, how fortunate we are to live in the most peaceful time of human history, although media do try to tell us every day how bad things are, and how the world is such a terrible place.

So today I feel thankful, I feel a very deep appreciation for being alive today, and not during a World War. It is incredible to think of the fact that my grandfather, who is turning 94 years old this July, was a young man during the war, and worked for the British Armed Forces during their stay here in Iceland, building bridges and roads.

Fortunately for me, he did not have to take part in the war directly, and he did not have to sacrifice his life for the greater cause. He had the chance to choose a different career, becoming a teacher, and later a school headmaster and he was able to raise six children, have 15 grandchildren and 7 greatgrandchildren. My grandfather once told me that almost every one of the British soldiers that were stationed on the East Coast of Iceland did, in fact, die during the war and many of them during D-day.

That's All, Brother - Crew & Ace FBO - Photo by Helena Stefánsdóttir

So let us use a moment out of our day today to feel thankful, remembering those who lost their lives to get us here, to reflect on how fortunate we are indeed. Let us remember the soldiers on both sides of the war, for both sides did believe that they were fighting for a just cause, fighting for their country, and protecting what they believed were their rights and freedom. Let us again reflect on the lessons we can take from the last conflict on a global scale, and not take our freedom of speech for granted. We must not allow other people or the government to restrict our right to speak our mind.

That is why I am feeling thankful today, and I will pause for a moment, to take time out of a busy day to reflect.

Stefan Kristinsson

Operations Manager - Ace FBO Reykjavík

Ace FBO - Photo By Helena Stefánsdóttir