Steve McCann, American Thinker, 6/6/24
On this day eighty-years ago, in the largest combined naval, air, and land operation in history, 154,000 Allied troops, including 71,000 American soldiers, landed on the beaches and in the marshlands of Normandy. Within the first twenty-four hours, American forces suffered 3,393 killed or missing and 6,603 wounded.
Thus began the liberation of continental Europe in a war that the United States had thrust upon it by the feckless efforts of others at appeasement and compromise with those who for years made clear their intentions and determination to conquer and impose their will on others.
In winning the war, this nation freed millions from tyranny and certain death, established democratic governments in the lands of their former enemies, rebuilt entire countries, and above all showed the world the true power of liberty and freedom.
I am among those freed from this tyranny and, thanks to the benevolence of the American people, brought to the United States as a displaced war orphan. In 1997, I fulfilled a lifelong goal of walking along Omaha Beach and visiting the Normandy American Cemetery. Little did I realize that it would turn out to be one of the most emotional days of my life.
An overcast, dreary day, together with the rhythmic breaking of the waves on the shoreline, accompanied my walk along the stretches of sand known forever as Omaha Beach, the site of the bloodiest battles of D-Day. As I looked out at the now tranquil English Channel, I tried to imagine the emotions of the young men in their teens and early twenties from cities and towns throughout America as they approached the shoreline and the mind-numbing violence and death awaiting them. Despite the rough seas and subsequent disorganization, they unhesitatingly faced the hail of bullets and artillery shells coming from the fortified bluffs along the entirety of the beach. It was the indomitable American spirit that spawned innumerable acts of individual heroism and initiative that ultimately won the day.
After spending an hour or so on the beach, I walked up a path leading to the Normandy American Cemetery on a bluff overlooking Omaha Beach. On my arrival, my breath was taken away by the sight of seemingly endless rows of 9,388 crosses and Stars of David.
As I walked along the paths and rows of white marble monuments, I could not help but notice that the surnames memorialized on the crosses and Stars of David reflected the melting-pot uniqueness of the United States. As I continued my walk, I soon found myself talking to the young men interred there.
I thanked them for rescuing me and millions of others. I told them about the failures and successes in the life I had been granted. How the nation they loved and sacrificed for had sent men to the moon; that the computers, technology, and space travel they had seen and read about in science fiction movies and comic books were now a reality. That an actor they saw in the movies, Ronald Reagan, was elected president of the United States. How America evolved into the global superpower advancing freedom and economic security not only for its people, but for all of mankind. I told them they would have enjoyed watching Don Larsen pitch a perfect game in the World Series on this thing available to everyone called a television. And above all that they were still remembered, and the sacrifices they made were not in vain.
On this the eighty-year anniversary of the D-Day landings, I am haunted by the memory of my visit and the thought of what this nation has become.
If I were to return to Normandy, how could I tell those young men that the totalitarian mindset they fought and died to defeat now dominates virtually all of America’s institutions? How could I relate to them that the nation’s ruling class is accelerating the transformation of the nation into a one-party Marxist/socialist oligarchy by allowing untold millions of illegal aliens, including criminals, terrorists, and potential saboteurs, unfettered admittance and access to virtually all the rights of American citizenship?
How would I be able to explain that the justice system has been so corrupted that it is now being openly used by a Marxist-dominated Democrat party to imprison its political adversaries? How could I tell them that the military in which they so valiantly served is concerned about “diversity, equity, and sexual orientation” more than winning wars? How could I relate to them that only 18% of today’s young adults (18–34) are extremely proud to be Americans? How would I explain that a plurality of American society has mainstreamed the inane concepts that a man can choose to become a woman and that men can get pregnant?
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