Commentary

I’ve seen a number of movies depicting D-day, June 6, 1944, the invasion of Normandy, but the producers of the latest film, “Pressure,” is quite different in that it captured the tense 72 hours before the landing was given a “go.”

The Allied forces – the United States Great Britain and Canada – sought to gain a foothold in France, launching the largest amphibious invasion in history, Operation Overlord, and its success relied heavily on the weather.

The 72 hours is a window of manageable weather in the English Channel. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, played by Brandon Fraser, was in command and he had as his forecaster, Col. Irving P. Krick, played by Chris Messina.

Enter James Stagg, played by Andrew Scott, a Scottish meteorologist highly recommended to Ike by Winston Churchill.  It sets up a tension focused on the two forecasters.  Stagg was meticulous, analyzing real-time barometric pressure data, while Krick used historical weather patterns.

Torn between the forecasting of each man, Eisenhower decides to delay the original date of June 5, and as history notes, the launch of the invasion was successfully made on June 6.

With most of the filming taking place at Southwick House in England, where Eisenhower and British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery planned the invasion, footage of the forces storming the beaches was limited to the last half hour or so.  While it was accurately depicted, showing soldiers killed as they left amphibious boats or as they hit the beaches, the producers refrained from showing bloody scenes.

I do not make it a practice of reviewing movies but having visited Normandy and previously quoted President Reagan’ s famous “These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs” speech on June 6, 1984, I saw it as a means to remind you of this fete of the greatest generation and to recommend you see it.

The Fiasco at CBD News

There has been a great deal of coverage to the shake-up at CBS News over the decision to overhaul 60 Minutes.  Amidst the firing of producers of the program was a show anchor, Scott Pelley, who let his ego prevent him from working with the show’s new executive producer Nick Bilton, who ended up firing him.

Also fired was Sharyn Alfonsi, a 60 Minutes correspondent, who insisted that CBS’s move was political rather than for editorial reasons.

To many viewers, 60 Minutes was never the same after the departure of Mike Wallace, who was known for his “gotcha” journalism.  CEO’s feared receiving a call from Wallace.  Wallace and Harry Reasoner hosted the show when it debuted in 1968.

CBS Kills Radio Service Too

As I grew up with radio, word that CBS News was shutting down its news radio service last month after nearly 100 years of operation, had more meaning to me.  My Dad listened to FDR’s fireside chats, and the voice of news broadcasters H. V. Kaltenborn and the icon of CBS, Edward R. Morrow, are remembered.  I listened to the news and entertainment shows, like The Shadow and Inner Sanctum.

In high school, as a journalism student, I had an opportunity to report on high school happenings over the local radio station.

In the Air Force, stationed in Morocco, listening to the news late at night coming from New York was in our routine.  Hearing the news of the Cuban Missile Crisis was of particular interest as our SAC base B-47s were put on alert.

Coincidentally, a friend of mine recently shared the memory of listening to the Indianapolis 500 race on radio as a kid.  I used to listen to Harry Heilmann announce the Detroit Tigers’ games.

Today, I regularly listen to radio on Sirius in my car.

It’s how I learned how the Mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Fry, chose Memorial Day to mark the six-year anniversary of George Floyd’s death, emphasizing that Floyd’s “murder changed our city forever,” and forced Minneapolis to confront “painful truths about race, policing, inequity and trust.”

Needless to say, the timing drew widespread criticism among most Americans, who honored those who died for the country, not to memorialize a criminal who died in police custody, calling it “disrespectful and disgusting.”

May God continue to bless the United States of America