Pictured: D-Day essay winner Dominick Pursino of Commack, a Hofstra University senior, is congratulated by Armor Museum senior trustee Michael Sapraicone for being selected the winning essayist whose writing reviewed the legacy of D-Day on the 80th anniversary of the historic World War II invasion. The essay sponsor, The Museum of American Armor, is providing Dominick with all expense paid trip to the Normandy beaches in cooperation with Beaches of Normandy Tours.
Photo courtesy of The Museum of American Armor
Following a regional wide challenge for college and high school students to submit an essay regarding the lasting legacy of D-Day some 80 years after the historic World War II invasion by Allied forces, Dominick Pursino, a 22 year old Hofstra University student from Hempstead, has been selected as the winner of an all-expense paid trip to the invasion beach this June. His visit will be coordinated by the internationally respected Beaches of Normandy Tours.
The founder and president of the Museum of American Armor, Lawrence Kadish, was the underwriter of the challenge in the belief that many of today’s generation are not aware of the legacy of D-Day that continues to touch their lives.
Mr. Kadish noted, “A survey by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) found that a quarter of Americans didn’t know that D-Day occurred during World War II and less than half knew that Franklin Delano Roosevelt was president during that time. With such basic historic facts unknown to many college students, there is little surprise that few appreciate how our geo-political world is defined by the courage, valor, and sacrifice of Americans who answered the call of freedom over seventy-five years ago.”
In considering the undisguised joy of those under Nazi rule being liberated by the Allies following D-Day, Pursino wrote, “When I was a boy, my grandmother would tell me hundreds of stories about her childhood, living in the small Italian seaside town of Giovinazzo. Out of all the stories she would tell, the one that stuck out to me the most was the story about the Nazi occupation in her hometown. The loud, menacing and synchronous marching of German troops in formation were heard from miles away instilling fear into my grandmother’s daily life and the rest of the people in the town. There was a constant state of terror in whatever street, alleyway or town the Nazi’s stepped foot in. In these occupied nations like my grandmother’s town the people suffered. Genocide, persecution, forced labor, and severe punishments were given out to the people who spoke out against their occupation.
“I will always remember when an American D-day veteran hosted an assembly when I was in middle school. He referred to the Omaha Beach where he landed as a vast killing field with death flying down like raindrops during a thunderstorm. I could never fathom the murderous atmosphere that these soldiers endured when storming the beaches, hopping off the boats to their likely death,” Pursino reflected in his essay.
Armor Museum Senior Trustee Michael D. Sapraicone, stated, “Dominic’s essay reflected his unique understanding of the valor and courage of those who engaged in history’s largest amphibious assault and how their sacrifice liberated an enslaved continent. We continue to be in the debt of those who came ashore and those who dropped behind enemy lines in what history has called “The longest day.”
The Hofstra student is a senior intent on pursuing a Masters Degree with hopes of becoming a history teacher with a discipline in special education.
The Armor Museum will provide the Dominic with air and ground transportation and appropriate accommodations on the Cotentin Peninsula, France, that is near the historic Normandy beaches. His visit will be coordinated by Beaches of Normandy Tours.
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