Eighty years-ago this month Nazi Germany began its spring campaign with the ultimate goal of conquering all of Western Europe. After a six- month lull from the invasion of Poland in September of 1939, the German army invaded Scandinavia, including Denmark and Norway, then followed up with the Netherlands and Belgium.

These stunningly easy victories for the Third Reich shocked the world. The swiftness of the Panzer Divisions of the Wehrmacht, coupled with massive air superiority of the Luftwaffe resulted in these triumphs.

Then in May the overwhelming invasion and defeat of France. On June 14, 1940 (our flag day), German troops marched into Paris, under the “L’arc de triomphe”, while Adolph Hitler toured the city he so much wanted in his possession as a major symbol of both German might and revenge.

Meanwhile, German troops at Dunkirk waited for orders to finish off the British REF and ultimately that small island opposite them, Great Britain. It must have been an incredibly scary time.

In just two months it seemed that total German victory was inevitable. Meanwhile one of the greatest war-time leaders in European history, Winston Churchill, was convinced that by the strong will and dedication of his people, Adolph Hitler could ultimately be defeated, knowing however that it would be at a great cost. “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat”, he told his citizens, at one of the darkest hours in the nation’s history.

During the following months much of the country’s infrastructure was bombed into dust with air raids occurring night and day, as the Battle of Britain raged on throughout the summer and fall. Men, women, and children scurrying to bomb shelters knowing that their lives and property were gravely in danger. But, the British continued to persevere, and rolled up their sleeves to meet the challenge of what seemed to be an endless war. “If you’re going through Hell, keep going” was one of Churchill’s famous lines.

Ultimately Great Britain and the allies defeated Nazi Germany, but without the impressive fortitude and resolve of Churchill and his people, who knows what the world would look like today.

Fast forward eighty years and this time our nation is facing an enemy just as the Brits did in 1940, only this time it is an invisible enemy, an enemy that invaded our nation overnight, and with such vicious speed and destruction. But just as was the case in 1940, we too will persevere.

With strong leadership from our elected officials, coupled with the resolute nature of the American spirit, including the indefatigable dedication of doctors and front line health care providers and emergency responders, to the research firms and laboratories tirelessly pursuing the development of effective therapeutics, and ultimately a vaccine, to private companies adjusting their manufacturing capacities to help meet the vast equipment and supply demands of the nation’s hospitals, and to the countless volunteers offering whatever they can back in hometown America to help ease the burden, I ask how can we fail?

These next few weeks and perhaps months will indeed be like walking through hell, but America must and will continue to “keep going”, and ultimately victory will be our lot.

Terry L. Niles

Brushton