In keeping with the day I chose to honor ordinary Americans who possessed astounding courage and grace, men who saw their duty and did it, not because it was easy but because it was necessary.
The 63rd Infantry Division "Blood and Fire", The proud legend of the 63rd Infantry Division had its beginning at Casablanca in January 1943, when Prime Minister Churchill of Great Britain coined the phrase that the Axis powers would "Bleed and Burn in expiation of their crimes against humanity". From that statement, Brigadier General Louis E. Hibbs, soon to become the division's commander, designed the shoulder insignia and the slogan "Blood and Fire".
From mid-February 1945 until the end of the war, the 63rd Infantry Division made a path of Blood and Fire from Sarreguemines through the Siegfried Line to Worms, Mannheim, Heidelberg, Gunzburg and ending in Landsberg Germany at the end of April 1945.
Theirs are not names you recognize, nor battles that stand in infamy as does Normandy, yet they epitomize what was risked and won with American blood and treasure. While we rightly memorialize the heroic sacrifices of Normandy, these Americans should also be honored today and every day, for many gave the last full measure and the sacrifice of all provided the freedom we now enjoy.
I encourage you to look through the compelling photo gallery of private photos and memories by the men who were there. You will be struck by just how young they are, the matter-of-course deprivations of war, a filthy, cold, grinding, relentless march interrupted by hours or days of sheer terror. Look carefully at their faces, read their names, they are familiar, they are our grandfathers, fathers, uncles, sons, brothers, neighbors. These are not the faces of warriors bent on dominion and colonialism, but ordinary Americans who hitched up their courage, witnessed unspeakable sights, suffered and died, they saved the world, then returned home and resumed their commonplace lives, expanding our liberties, and building the nation into a powerful force for good.
Thank you.
