D-Day marked ‘crucial day in the history of mankind’

Editor’s note: June 6 marks the 75^th anniversary of D-Day, the largest amphibious operation in military history. On that day, 11,000 aircraft, 6,000 naval vessels and 2 million men from 12 nations participated with the Allied Forces in a campaign that began the liberation of western Europe from Nazi control. The following editorial by David M. Gardner appeared in the June 15, 1944, edition of the Baptist Standard under the headline, “D-Day and the Days Ahead.”

June 6, 1944, will go down as a crucial day in the history of mankind. The future destiny of the nations of the world, and the spiritual and physical well-being of the present and future generations, will be determined by the outcome of the campaign launched for the liberation of enslaved peoples of Europe on that epochal day.

We have no doubt as to what the final outcome will be. We will win, but we will do well to face the fact that there will be many dark days ahead before victory is ours. There will be times when the tides of battle will turn against our brave men.

We will perhaps lose battles, but we will never lose heart battling for freedom. Many of our brave sons will die facing the foe, but we had rather die on our feet as free men, than to live on our knees as slaves.

It was most encouraging to see people of all creeds turning toward places of worship for special prayer on D-Day. Let us continue to pray daily for our men and women on the fighting fronts and for the dear mothers and wives and other loved ones here at home. There are dark days ahead for us all. We need to make much of prayer. We would urge our people to keep the churches open for worship, and let us see to it that they are filled with worshippers. Mark it well, our people will need the comforting message of God’s Word in the coming days as never before. Keep the churches open.