D-Day 65th anniversary

In the year of 2009 the world continues to teeter within a cauldron of financial instability. Yet within the swirling dust, the simple reality is that the long slow recovery has begun. The road back naturally will hit a series of bumps and bruises along the way and the financial deck of many nations fortunes will be reshuffled but off in the distance there is a light. The path to the light is not so easy to get to but with able mind, body and a generous dose of the "anyway, anyhow" mentality, we as a people will get there.

In complete honesty there are times I question whether the claret has been bled out of today's society. It is not father time speaking or these graying flecks that dot my temple but a memory of those that came before me. Whether it be the lack of political leadership or mettle in most of the population, my worst fear of the last eighteen months has come true; fear has gripped much of society. Like a pup beaten and abused, society has stumbled and instead of getting off the canvas and rolling their collective sleeves up, it has whimpered, slunk to the corner while casting the crooked finger of blame.

Given that leadership long since left the building and there are few around that seem to understand how to raise their voices anymore, the road out starts that "anyway, anyhow" mentality. Whether that "sells" in a culture that no longer understands "principles never have a price-tag", isn't my concern but if there is anything I learned from the best damn closer I ever knew was to be relentless and never be vanquished.

Recent history tells us precisely that and from a generation that had it much harder that the present. The Depression of the 1930's dwarf the present woes of the world to no-end but, as coined by Mr. Brokaw, "the greatest generation" knew that simple edict. To be relentless, never be vanquished and to get the damn job done "anyway, anyhow" sits at the root of true recovery. If I could reach back in-time and pull a leader from that era, the task ahead would be handled with confidence and straight-forward approach with a unified belief that "we" are getting to that light.

Sadly I see few in the political arena that possess that mettle and if they do, they like lack the publicity team to squeeze their message in digestible 160 character messages that the public now clamours for or they are simply considered "too old" to launch a successful campaign bid. Unfortunately packaging isn't limited to shopkeepers anymore as we as a society are left with "leaders" akin to the quality of food takeaway window.

And so, in the longest winded of ways I wish to point out something to you that I see little mention of in the media today. In roughly twenty-four hours it is the sixty-fifth anniversary of D-Day, Operation Overlord, when Allied Forces stormed the Normandy coast of France. No words can describe their sacrifice and their boundless heroics and so I ask you tomorrow whether it is a break of dawn or throughout the day, join me as we as collective remember the extraordinary cost paid. In so doing, as you reflect on their mission you will not only come to respect the extraordinary accomplishments of that area but equally find the path to getting the tough job done, anyway, anyhow.

for further reading on D-DAY, I suggest the Times dedicated section