America at D-Day + 75

In the history of the Republic, June 6th has been an iconic date on the American calendar ever since General Eisenhower committed the Allied Forces to the invasion of Hitler’s Fortress Europe in 1944. Although the World has since turned over too many times to count, the spirit of unity of all serving in that common cause to defeat an inhumane adversary in defense of American values and way of life stands out as a defining characteristic of that generation. Although all manner of inequality abounded on so many levels, it was universally accepted by virtually all that the fundamental premise of the creed “all men are created equal” was what set the USA apart from other nations both friend and foe. In short, America was the good guy always and forever, for better or worse, in spite of all its inherent flaws. That is the ubiquitous subtext of all epitaphs permanently carved into each individual memorial and those dedicated to the collective sacrifice of the American liberators in Normandy three quarters of a century ago this week.            

The number of WWII veterans and especially those whose lives were defined by their survival of this battle are numbering fewer and fewer with each passing year. So long as D-Day lives in the memory of those who landed at Omaha Beach, it will never be forgotten. When they are gone and it passes over the threshold into history, it will become a moral imperative for all to preserve and honor their memory. It was their generation’s collective national effort that made America great. With all the televised fanfare of the seventy-fifth anniversary commemoration, I can’t help but wonder what has happened to the America the men whose lives ended in Normandy thought they were fighting to defend and preserve?

I seriously doubt that this current reality of inept and incompetent leadership that tolerates and even praises purveyors of the very ideology those resting in peace in Normandy died fighting would be acceptable to them. I’m sure that like so many of the rest of us who have lived to see this obscene and rapid erosion and decline of American leadership and influence, they would likely be beside themselves feeling a mix of outrage, disgust and even shame. Like all who have served in an undertaking like that Great Crusade, I’m sure they believed in America, right or wrong: When right to be kept right. When not right, to be put right. So many of the Americans now resting in Normandy were conscripts and most were unabashed beneficiaries of New Deal era policies. I seriously doubt many would be pleased with all the efforts afoot to roll back so many of those social advances. An America on a regressive course is where we find ourselves seventy-five years after H-Hour at Omaha Beach.

So what should be done about this dismal state of affairs? It must of course begin within each individual. We can all best honor the memory of the collective sacrifice of not only those who died in France but all American war dead. We can do this by becoming the sort of Americans worthy of their sacrifice. We must rededicate ourselves to the mission of rebuilding the nation they all fought to save and remake it into one those resting under the white crosses can would be proud to die for again. America may be down, but she is not out. We can look to the service and sacrifice of those who liberated Europe as our example. The last flickering rays of light in the setting sun of a generation will soon become dark as those few veterans in their 90s will soon join their comrades in the Great Beyond. It is my hope that their “Can Do” spirit will provide inspiration for a new generation of public servants defined by their selfless service.

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