Veteran’s Day Message 2022 | “We Shall Fight on the Beaches”
“…we shall fight on beaches, landing grounds, in fields, in streets and on the hills.
We shall never surrender … ”
– Winston Churchill, June 4, 1940
First and foremost, we want to wish a very wonderful and special Veteran’s Day to every member of our Armed Forces. We at COLETTI celebrate this day with our family, extending the same love and joy to all the American military families here at home and overseas. Thank you to every man and woman who puts on the uniform, for answering the call to defend liberty — the freedom of every American.
Today, on Veteran’s Day 2022, we choose to honor the service of our active military personnel by remembering the victory of the Old Soldiers they succeed.
May 10th, 1940 — Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the 250th day of the war. Nazi conquest has claimed Poland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxemburg. On the first day of Churchill’s war-time government, German forces would begin their assault on France. Three weeks later, more than 300,000 Ally Troops evacuate through the northern coastal town of Dunkirk. Paris is lost.
June 4, 1940 — Churchill Addresses the House of Commons
“We shall not be content with a defensive war. We have our duty to our Allies… I have myself full confidence that if all do their duty and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our island home, ride out the storms of war, outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary, for years, if necessary, alone… The British Empire and the French Republic, linked together in their cause and their need, will defend to the death their native soils, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength…
We shall not flag nor fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France and on the seas and oceans; we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island whatever the cost may be; we shall fight on beaches, landing grounds, in fields, in streets and on the hills.
We shall never surrender and even if, which I do not for the moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, will carry on the struggle until in God’s good time the New World with all its power and might, sets forth to the liberation and rescue of the Old.”
July 26, 1940 — The General Headquarters (GHQ), tasked with leading field forces is established at the Army War College in Washington D.C by order of Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of War to Franklin D. Roosevelt. Three weeks later, American citizens begin enlisting for the war effort.
December 11, 1941 — Three years of Nazi conquest. Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Declaration of War, the day following Pearl Harbor. Officially marking the arrival of the United States and 2.2 million American Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines into World War II.
May 8, 1945 — Axis High Command unconditionally surrenders. Following more than half a decade at war, where 16 million Americans served victoriously with Ally Forces, delivering the world from tyranny – defending liberty, the freedom of every man and woman.
