D-Day Veteran: "Love your freedom, Because that's what we fought for. We fought for your freedom."

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Video: The veteran NBC anchor reports on the day known as the greatest invasion in the history of mankind, and the story of one man who landed on Normandy’s Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944.

That same year, he landed on the Normandy beach code-named Omaha in a Higgins boat launched from the U.S.S. Samuel Chase to begin the assault. Seventy years later, he brought his entire family back to France to revisit that day, which began with the sounds of his fellow troops retching over the side of the boat followed by a hail of bullets from the Germans. 

"We had overfed the troops that morning,'' DeVita told Brokaw. "They were all seasick. When we got near the beach, one particular machine gun took a liking to us and was hitting my boat. The Germans had the high ground. They were shooting down at us. It was like hitting fish in a barrel."

An emotional DeVita recalled the fear of being ordered to drop the ramp to the boat. 

"I knew in my head, even though I was a young kid, when I drop that ramp, instead of the bullets hitting the ramp, they would come into the boat,'' he said. "So the coxswain says, 'Drop the ramp,' and I made believe I didn't hear him. So he said it a second time, and I made believe I didn't hear him. 

And the third time, he says, 'Goddamn, DeVita, drop the effin' ramp. 

"We had 30 men on the boat. Three men made it to the beach. They were all wounded and some were dead." 

DeVita can still remember the sounds of soldiers in their final moments.

"You know, there's a fallacy when a man is dying — they don't ask for God,'' he said. "The last word that that they say is, 'Mama, Mama." 

Those painful memories have been with DeVita for 70 years, and he is just sharing them now with his children. Four generations of his family joined him at the beach in Omaha to honor his service. 

DeVita returned because he feels a duty to speak for the men who died that day. 

"These kids were 18, 19 years old,'' he said. "They're never gonna see their son play Little League baseball. They're never gonna walk their daughter down the aisle, and they're never gonna hold their grandchild in their arms. They had their whole life ahead of them. 

"My family thinks I'm a hero. I'm not a hero. When you go up to the cemetery above Omaha, those are the heroes. Those are my heroes." 

DeVita is hoping his family and others take a lesson from the anniversary.

"Love your freedom,'' he said. "Because that's what we fought for. We fought for your freedom."

"I am not here as a serf or vassal. I am not begging my lords for mercy." "I’m a born free American woman, wife, mother and citizen. And I’m telling my government that you’ve forgotten your place

 "I am not here as a serf or vassal. I am not begging my lords for mercy." "I’m a born free American woman, wife, mother and citizen. And I’m telling my government that you’ve forgotten your place. It’s not your responsibility to look out for my well-being, and to monitor my speech. It’s not your right to assert an agenda. Your post, the post that you occupy, exists to preserve American liberty. You’ve sworn to perform that duty. And you have faltered." 

~Becky Gerritson of the Wetumpka Tea Party, testifying today before the House Ways and Means Committee about abuse by the IRS.~ 

Leftists Pushing To Make States Recognize International And Shariah Law

The radical leftists are at it again.  Pushing to force foreign laws  on us.  We must stop this effort to bring Shariah Law to the United States!  It's going to be up to you to make your voice heard on this issue.  Make sure you State Representative does not support this effort to destroy our Constitution and legal system! 

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The Brennan Center for Justice and the Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign present:

Webinar: Are Foreign Law Bans
a Threat to All Faiths?

Thursday, February 27, 2014 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m 

featuring:

Amos Toh, Katz Fellow, Brennan Center for Justice

David L. Barkey, National Religious Freedom Counsel, Anti-Defemation League

Karen Georgia Thompson, Reverend, United Church of Christ  

 moderated by: 

 Christina Warner, Campaign Director, Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign

RSVP HERE

Please join us for a discussion about how your community can challenge anti-foreign law legislation in your state. Across the U.S., lawmakers are introducing bills that outlaw the use of religious, foreign, or international law in state courts, creating a host of problems for religious communities. Marriages, wills, divorces influenced by religious laws (like Jewish Halakha, Catholic Canon law, or Islamic Shariah law) could be negatively affected.

Although courts have found legislation explicitly targeting Shariah law to be unconstitutional, lawmakers in 35 states have tweaked and introduced bills banning foreign and international law over the last four years. In fact, seven states have passed anti-foreign law bills since 2010. While anti-Muslim sentiment is still motivating these laws, Americans of every faith should be concerned about their impact on their religious freedom.

Click here to RSVP. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Christina Warner at cwarner@shouldertoshouldercampaign.org. 

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Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law | 161 Avenue of the Americas, 12th Floor | New York, NY 10013 | 646.292.8310 phone | 212.463.7308 fax | brennancenter@nyu.edu

RELATED STORIES: CAIR’s Fight Against Pennsylvania Foreign Law Bill

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Brennan Center For Justice is also behind the new move to make it easier to facilitate voter fraud:

URGENT CALL TO ACTION-LEFT WING GROUP TRYING TO CIRCUMVENT SCOTUS AND RIG ELECTION PROCESS

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 More on what Shariah Law looks like: