I was once a soldier and it was as a soldier that I walked along the rather pristine beaches of Normandy, looking up onto the bluffs from the low tide as those young men would have viewed them 70 years ago. My only thought at the time was, "my God, how could they have done what they did."
I stood atop Point du Hoc and looked over. I'm not much for heights…in fact, a step ladder terrifies me…and this place is straight down. It's also straight up and those guys climbed it--for nothing as it turned out. How? I can't conceive of it.
I'm reading The Longest Day as I do from time to time on this date. If you haven't read it at all it should be on the top of your summer list. Those men deserve it. I'm going back to finish it now.
CORRECTION: Yesterday I intimated that the sovereign debt of Spain and Italy was tax free. That is of course incorrect. What my though was that because of losses over the past number of years in local affiliates resulting in tax credits, the interest paid on sovereign bonds was essentially tax free. I apologize for the wording.
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