Escondido Sunrise Rotary; Meeting to Serve our Community in Person and via Zoom; and D Day Memorial & Father’s Day Tribute”
June 1, 2023
As we all try to conduct our professional pursuits in new ways, it’s appropriate to remind ourselves of who we are as a Serving Organization… Our accomplishments, our fellowship and the reminder of our many successes is valuable as we seek new opportunities to serve…
We met again in person at the Chamber of Commerce… Great to enjoy the fellowship again and see all your smiling faces…
As a Club, we honored our nation with a salute to our Flag led by Gloria Leffler and an invocation was offered by Past President Jack Anderson…
Guests and Visitors:
Lee Baker (the beautiful spouse of Barry)
Kirk Henson (the amazing spouse of Kim)
Now, some Sunrise Rotary member milestones…
Birthdays:
No Birthday’s this week
Anniversaries:
Rotary Anniversaries:
Sunrise Rotarians Serving, and Announcements:
Mark your Calendars…
Note some service opportunities coming up…
Rotarians Having Fun and Serving…
All kinds of fun and service and fun…
Pictures are worth a thousand words…
It appears that a couple of our ESR members had a great golf day, who had the best score: Rich Aeling, Mike O’Malley or John Boyce? We may never know…….
Past President’s Jeff Johnson and Chris Miller had a great time fishing in La Quinta
Hi-Fives & Announcements…
Our very sweet Gloria Leffler had very good news and very sad news. The good news is that is longtime boyfriend proposed and she said yes!! The very sad news is that she is moving to Yuba City and will be leaving in June 27th. Congratulations and we will miss you so much!!!
Chris Lesso’s daughter, Mackenzie is graduating on 6/2 from San Pasqual High School. She will be going to UC Davis in the fall
Kendra Koed’s daughter also graduated from college
President Tina’s grandson Kayden is also graduating
Congratulations to these accomplished graduates!!
Grape Day Update:
Past President Rich Agnew let everyone know that and e-mail was sent out to everyone to register on Race Roster
Program:
D-Day Remembered
Barry Baker
Barry opened by sharing a Memorial Day family tradition that he and his wife
participate with their children and grandchildren – honoring the fallen buried at Fort Rosecrans with American Flags. The commercialism of the three-day weekend that gives Americans time to travel, have back yard barbecues with friends and family, or hit a really good sale at their favorite store, many Americans are slowly forgetting the true meaning of Memorial Day. It is not a day of celebration but rather a day for reflection and appreciation in remembering and honoring the men and women of our armed forces.
Remembering those that paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom by laying down their
lives in times of war.
Some believe the D in D-Day means “declaration”, “day of decision”,
“debarkation”, among others. But, according to those that were in the amphibious
operation, the D stands for “day” or “departed date”; therefore the shortened term “D-Day” is used.
The D-Day Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated
airborne operations on Tuesday, June 6, 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in
Operation Neptune and often referred to as D-Day, it was the largest seaborne invasion in history. More than 200,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-
fortified French coastline, to fight Nazi Germany. More than 5,000 ships and 13,000
aircraft supported the D-Day invasion and by the day’s end. The Allies gained a foothold
din Continental Europe. Th cost in lives was high. More than 9,000 Allied Soldiers were
killed or wounded, but their sacrifices allowed more than 100,000 Soldiers to begin the slow and hard advancement across Europe to defeat Adolf Hitler’s troops.
Barry shared historical photos from D-Day. One picture was of General Eisenhower speaking to the paratroopers from the 101st Airborne the day before the invasion. Barry was proud to have been a member of the 101st Airborne during his military career as with the title came great responsibility to represent those that came before him honorably.
A photo of a landing craft was shown on the screen from one of Barry’s visits to
Normandy France. The landing crafts used in the Normandy invasion were very unstable
and easily tossed by the ocean waves. Several were knocked over causing the troops to drown under the weight of 50 pounds of gear. The 1st Paratroopers came in at night on gliders to be undetected by the German Soldiers. One such Paratroopers landing gear was caught on a steeple of a church. Those that landed were instantly shot and killed by occupying Germans. The Paratrooper caught on the steeple played dead from 2am until 2pm after the village was won. He then cried out for help.
Captain Jack read the Lone Sailor tribute; “The Lone Sailor represents the men
and women who have served, are serving, or will serve the U.S. Navy. He is called the
‘Lone Sailor’ yet he’s hardly ever alone. He is about 25 years old, a Senior 2nd Class
Petty Officer who is fast becoming a sea going Veteran. He has done it all; fired
weapons in war, provided humanitarian assistance in faraway lands, been attacked by the enemy, and defended freedoms. He has made port calls in great cities and tiny villages where he was a tourist, ambassador, adventurer, friend, missionary to those less fortunate, and representative of our way of life. Shipmates remember him with pride and look up to him with respect.”
Barry showed photos of Utah Beach and the history of how the naval officer in charge of charting the course miscalculated the tide and current patterns and took the craft off course by 2 miles. This miscalculation saved thousands of U.S. military lives.
They believed God intervened that day. The safe landing of the soldiers who would
eventually join the Normandy troops played a big role in the success of overtaking the
German troops. Unfortunately, with the success came many casualties. The average age of the fallen soldier was 27 years old, but by in large throughout the war, the highest number of casualties were soldiers averaging 19 years of age.
The reality of such a tragedy of this history really hits close to home for Barry.
His 18-year-old grandson, who will be graduating high school this week, has enlisted in the Marines and will be reporting to duty immediately. It is an honorable thing to do, but knowing someone close to you in the age group of the young fallen gives one a different perspective.
Kirk Henson shared his experience of Normandy from a visit Kim surprised him
within August of 2022. He said that although he has never served in the armed forces,
the history of WWII has always been of great interest to him. Touring the site was a very
sobering experience. Learning about all the combat and reconnaissance training leading
up to the invasion, and the great sacrifices made by the soldiers who knew going in the
odds were stacked against them – but they went.
Their tour guide’s father fought in the French army alongside the American
Troops. His father, and historical documents, recorded that in the first wave of landing
on Normandy one thousand soldiers were killed in seven minutes. The majority of the
soldiers that were first on the beach, and also the highest casualties, were young men that were under trained. They were either from the Coast Guard or newly enlisted. It was later believed that this had been a tactical decision for them to be on the front to take the first heat of bullets for the 2nd wave to approach and gain ground.
What stood out to Kirk and Kim was that the waves of the headstones in the showed the brotherhood of the Soldiers; the Jewish, Catholics, and Christians were laid to rest among their fellow comrades. There was no separation based on religion.
Barry showed pictures of a series of statues called “Les Braves” that was installed
in the 60th Anniversary of D-Day in 2004. Lee read the three characteristics of the
sculpture.
Les Braves
“The Brave consists of three elements:
The Wings of Hope - so that the spirit, which carried these men on June 6, 1944,
continues to inspire us. Reminding us that together it is always possible to change the
future.
Rise Freedom - so that the example of those who rose against barbarity helps us remain
standing strong against all forms of inhumanity.
The Wings of Fraternity - so that this surge of brotherhood always reminds us of our
responsibility towards others as well as ourselves.”
God Bless our men and women of our great nation’s Armed Forces. Thank you for your
sacrifices for our freedom here in our homeland, and for humanity and the preservation of life abroad.
More pictures from the Normandy Memorial:
Here's some pictures from a sweet Father's Day tribute to some of our ESR Members:
Opportunity Drawing: Total today is $139
Brian Murphy was the lucky raffle winner but no such luck in drawing the joker, sorry Brian and Kendra gets $14 for lunch
Next Week’s Meeting:
Will be in person and online at the Chamber of Commerce at 7:30 AM on June 8th with a delicious breakfast and scholarship awards
Thanks for Attending Today’s Meeting…
Support for our Escondido Community …
Our great community and the success of its businesses is all of our responsibilities… Support the businesses that are doing all they can to survive during this challenging time… Take out some chow… Be ready to support them when the economy begins working again…
The ‘Giving Arch’ on Grand Avenue and Centre City Parkway reminds us that Escondido is a caring, giving community…
To all; be safe and be well…. God Bless those men and women that carry the load at our medical facilities, and God Bless our first responders… May our governmental leaders be wise, thoughtful and smart as this pandemic is overtaken by our hard work and collective support…
Online Meetings:
Technical Support for Online Meetings:
Our meetings will begin as a hybrid setting with in-person and on-line opportunities…The meetings will be technically managed by past President Richard Agnew… Thanks for that Richard… And, Richard is prepared to support all of our attempts at joining the on-line meetings… Look for his email with details and links to log on to the upcoming Zoom meetings…
Watch for emails defining the next meeting. The system works fine, dependent upon your technical support available through your PC or laptop…
SEE YOU SOON…… In Person or ONLINE… Next meeting; June 8th, 7:30 AM at the Chamber of Commerce…
Check President Tina’s email for the reminder......
