June 6,1944...Normandy...My Father was a U.S.N. Radioman on D-Day, and was also stationed in the South Pacific(Guam) right before the take-out of Hiroshima & Nagasaki. He was a gentle man who wanted to defend our Freedom, and volunteered to take-on aruably the most haeeowing & dangerous assignment,as Radiomen did not have quick access to their rifles, due to their priority to carry all the radio equipment...But he accepted this role, as he felt it would also make him unlikely to be able to fire his rifle at the enemy, even if it be in self-defense.My Dad would rather been killed than to be guilty of killing, i am convinced of that, based on the altruistic life he led in his 86 years on this planet!He died in late, 2008 of the one thing in life he feared....To be a victim of Alzheimers....as in his mind, that would be easy for him to bear , but not for we, his family, who he could not bear to burden.It was like June 6th, 1944 all over again!-Frank James Ryan,Jr./FjR
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