The 75th anniversary of D-Day reminds me of the most valuable history lesson I ever learned and the man who taught it to me.
In 1995 I was a first-year high school social studies teacher in Duluth. One day I returned to my classroom after lunch to find a bundle of papers on my desk, along with a handwritten note from my principal. Mr. McGee was passing along the transcription of a journal he obtained from a relative because he thought it might help bring World War II to life for a bunch of students in Minnesota.
Intrigued by what was inside, I made my way that summer to a tiny farm community in Hubbard County, hoping to discover more about one man's past and perhaps an inspiring example upon which to build my future. I found both.
Months before arriving at Normandy in 1944, 21-year-old Virgil Tangborn of Nary, Minn., had begun to record his daily experiences. His journal survives 75 years later and helps make that era seem closer, more real.
Though I never met him, Virgil taught me what courage means and for that he is my hero.
Interspersed with observations about farm life and about events halfway around the world, Virgil's words reflect the inner struggle of a man determined to plan his future despite the growing likelihood that his fate was beyond his control. He wrote:
December 10, 1941: "This has been one of those days when I have completely relaxed my will and just drifted, following almost every impulse, living hour by hour … Last Sunday Japan attacked in the Pacific and brought U.S. into war. This makes an army life for me extremely probable. Must face it with resolution to do my best to adjust myself to such a life.
January 25, 1942: "Began this afternoon to form new, more energetic habit of life — to root out that put-off-until-tomorrow philosophy."