I guess 67 years after the event one should expect to see no more references in the newspaper to the incident in Normandy than a reprint of an elderly comic strip by an author long since dead.
And yet I confess, if not to surprise, to disappointment. As the years roll by it is obvious that certain moments in history cannot be declaimed every single year. Heaven knows we rarely see much discussion about the Fourth of July and it's origins, or the anguished debate that led to the signing to the documents two days late. So why should D Day evoke any special feelings? Perhaps because I grew up in the shadow of the second Great War of the century past, because I believe the present is predicated on the past and fundamentally there is nothing new under the sun. Corruption and failure wear different disguises but at their base they are the same issues as they always were.
D Day was the day democracy showed it could triumph over corporate Nazi-Fascism, it was a landing that sent tens of thousands to their death in a wave of human bodies that reminded the leaders of the day of their own experiences with the great slaughter in the trenches of thirty years previously. Today our leaders send youngsters to their death on the flimsiest of pretexts, back then it took an almighty surprise attack to force this country to send men to slaughter.
Robert Capa in Normandy
The awfulness of D Day, it is my belief, is what made the dropping of the atom bomb in Japan such a relatively easy choice. I don't believe President Truman would have slept at all well had he chosen to see wave upon wave of Americans dying on Japanese beaches as they had in France. He had a better swifter and more certain choise, as horrible as it was. There are so many conspiracy theories abounding about Pearl Harbor (Roosevelt knew in advance!) and Hiroshima that one hardly knows where to turn. In the end I believe those conspiracy theories, similar to the ones that 9-1-1 was government caused, are an expression of our own inability to believe the worst of ourselves and our inability to find leaders in our democracy that represent what it is we want. Peace, prosperity and a decent life for the next generation. Things that seem simple enough and every day further our of reach. They preach the sermon of Greed to us and we drink up the Kool Aid of individual rights and freedoms conveniently forgetting the duties and obligations of citizenship. There is no Team in America anymore and we are paying the price for our greed and acceptance of corruption. Peace and prosperity are further from us now than they were in 1946.
That was why people died in Normandy today 67 years ago, and how much easier is it to indulge our bozo conspiracy theories than to accept that we have let them down by accepting the nonsense and lies and greed of the people who elect themselves our leaders. Forget D Day, read the gossip and entertainment blogs instead.
7 comments:
Conscription equals citizenship? Or even not that far, but just helping your family, local community, and then your country in a way that trickles up is not sufficient? Or perhaps not done in a way that is beneficial to all.
That's the history. I just hope we can hit the reset button without going to war. History says not bloody likely.
/!\ Politics alert! /!\
Sorry.
I grew up in the wake of Vietnam. Life has changed for our soldiers since those days. I can't honestly say what it was like for anyone who served in WWII, but the mental health issues that soldiers suffer now - and how poorly they're treated after - is horrible.
Now, we're fighting three wars. Three? Do you even count Libya? Maybe one has broken out since I went to work this morning. It's terrible, I feel awful for the boys on the ground and their families, but the rest of America is completely insulated from the tragedy and heartbreak happening. My grandmother spoke of rationing and the war effort. If you watch TV, you'll only know it's time to go buy your new Apple product.
Ugh.
Brady
Behind Bars - Motorcycles and Life
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A week after claiming a hacker had posted a lewd photo to his Twitter account, U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner on Monday apologized for lying about the incident and admitted carrying on inappropriate relationships with several women he'd met online.
-From CNN'slead story, 6.6.2011
Now that's newsworthy!
I couldn't agree more. It's amazing how quickly we forget isn't it?
On D-Day, I usually listen to some old radio broadcasts from the day of the invasion.
This year, it kind of slipped up on me. Instead, I spent some time listening to the Isle of Man TT.
So far this TT, I understand that they've had 7 deaths - three racers and four visitors.
Two of the racers were the 67 year old driver and 59 year old passenger of a sidecar at an accident in practice. The third was a racer on the race Tuesday morning.
One of my best memories ever is when the late author Steve Ambrose, did a book signing in Helena on his D-Day book and a couple of old men who were at D-Day showed him and those of us standing in line, a map of Omaha beach they carried into battle with them and showed us where they landed and what it was like. It was amazing.
Bob from Livingston Montana (54 degrees and raining)
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