It's June 6th -- 1944!

 D-Day!

This painful chapter in the conflagration that was World War II, signaled the beginning of the end of the Third Reich and the demise of the demon, Hitler.

Many good men died in the Second World War and the invasion of Normandy (as Our Lady predicted!).

Their eternal fate?  Known only to God Almighty!

I wonder if this war -- this chastisement -- is still, (or was it ever?), properly taught in schools or colleges, from the standpoint of what the real cost of freedom is?

I use the word chastisement, because all wars and rumors of wars are the result of grievous sin and the rejection of the reign of Christ as King of individual souls and of nations.

God allows men (mankind) to use his free will to make those decisions that can and will determine the consequences of those decisions -- whether for good or evil, war or peace...

After the end of WWII, the world of nations was different.  No longer simple or innocent, so to speak, but different, more cynical and, may I say, hopeless or unsure of the future?

With the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the nuclear age had begun, and any future wars would most certainly be the end of mankind as we know it.

We came painfully close during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, when nukes were stationed in Cuba, just 90 miles from Florida and aimed at the guts of our nuclear missile sites and SAC bases across the U.S. of A.

As an aside, my now-deceased brother was on the aircraft carrier, Constellation, poised to respond with jet fighter-bombers to take out the bad guys on the communist island.

I also remember my dear mother on pins and needles hoping and praying that someone would not pull the trigger or push the button and start a chain reaction that would consume the world, including my brother and his ship!

Three years later, I joined the Air Force and was tasked with protecting B-52 nuclear bombers and KC-135 air refueling tankers ready to take on the Russian Bear.

I can assure anyone reading this missive, that there were times when the klaxon alert sounded, my brother police and I didn't know if it was an exercise or an actual call to wipe out Russia.  This was especially true when the alert aircraft not only taxied from the alert pad but then took off and filled the air with the black, choking exhaust from the bombers and tankers, each succeeding plane sucking in that exhaust, began to "wabble" as the engines struggled to "breathe" the now-contaminated air!

It was a helpless feeling, that is, until we saw the bombers and tankers start returning to the base.  At that point, we knew it was, in fact, only an exercise!

After just over two years, I got orders to Vietnam...

As I said, wars and rumors of wars are a chastisement from God for our sins against Him and the natural order of things.

We must always pray for strength and honor -- and for peace and an end to all wars...

Viva Cristo Rey!  Bl. Fr. Miguel Pro, Fr. Emil Kapaun and Fr. Vincent Capodanno, pray for us...

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle...

St. Joseph pray for us!!

Gene DeLalla