David Anderson gives a rather moving tribute to our D-Day veterans on today’s anniversary of the greatest and most costly invasion ever staged. But some things in it bothered me, and, as nicely as I possibly can, I am going to take issue with them.
My uncle suffered injury by a grenade in the European theater of WW2. He doesn’t really talk about it. So it is up to those of us who have an inkling of understanding of the sacrifice those men faced to keep the fire they lit burning. They stood for faith in God and faith in the freedom and dignity of the human spirit to fly high in freedom. Let us do the same. Let the Army of Liberty roll on.
First, we have no understanding of their sacrifice. That is why we honor it so. We cannot imagine their suffering, hardship, and courage, and it helps not to pretend that we do.
Second, it also helps that we do not assign our motives to their sacrifice. We don’t know if they stormed the beaches of Normandy because they stood for faith in God, freedom, or dignity. The factual reason we stormed the beaches was to repel and defeat the evil Nazis, and in so doing restore freedom to Europe. And by “we” I mean the United States of America. We really cannot know what was in the hearts and minds of the soldiers who fought in World War II unless they tell us themselves. My grandfather fought because he wanted to kick German ass. But he was a young Irish whipper snapper who lied about his age to get into the Army at the tender age of 17, and lofty notions of Freedom and Faith in God were the furthest things from his mind, and I know that because he told me.
Finally, “Let the Army of Liberty roll on?” We are not an Army of Liberty, seeking to liberate the oppressed wherever they exist. One only has to read history to know that is true. That was the delusion that got us into Iraq in the first place. Further, a moving tribute to the sacrifices of our veterans should not include a call to arms that will undoubtedly create more veterans.