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Opinion

D Day’s Vets Stopped the Nazis. We need their same courage to stop Putin.

By June 6, 2024No Comments

As we honor our DDay Victory and our surviving veterans, let’s try to remember we are facing a similar situation in Ukraine now.

The similarity relates to how Western Allies had drug their feet, not wanting war, even though Germany, Hitler, and the Axis Coalition were barreling through country after country.  The West did not want war and did not believe that Hitler wanted control of everywhere.  Whenever Germany took another country, much of the West thought, “Oh, that was the last.” Then France fell despite the supposed strength of the Maginot Line, and London came under attack.  President Roosevelt had helped as much as possible with his Lend-Lease program, but it wasn’t until the Maginot Line fell and Axis Ally Japan jumped in to bomb Hawaii that the American Congress woke up, and the U.S. and the U.K. teamed up.

Now, Ukraine is caught in Russian attacks — attacked aided by China, Iran, and North Korea.  Should Ukraine lose, we already know which countries are most vulnerable  — Montenegro, Moldova, Serbia, Bosnia, and Kosova.  However, Georgia and NATO members- Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania– are also threatened.

So what can be expected if we — the Western World Coalition united by NATO — are too weak or directionless to help save Ukraine?  See Ukraine’s destruction here, as reported by The NY Times.  Destroying everything in its path is Russia’s way … Russia wants the land and the resources, but not the people or the culture.  Even if the war stopped today and Putin/Russia gave up, in many of the destroyed cities, there would be nothing to go back to.  Russia targets and destroys schools, hospitals, and homes; it kidnaps children; it only wants the land and the resources.

It was the same at the beginning of WWII, except no one called it WWII until later as Hitler/Germany’s war-making marched on.  Russia first pledged to ally with Germany, and then Germany attacked Russia, forcing Russia to switch sides.   Russia has claimed to have been the savior of WWII, but in fact, it was a weak ally forced to fight against Germany to try to save itself.

The June 6, 1944, D-Day operation brought together the Allied armies’ land, air, and sea forces in what became known as the largest amphibious invasion in military history.   The operation, codenamed “OVERLORD” and “OPERATION NEPTUNE,” delivered five naval assault divisions to the beaches of Normandy, France.

It was the largest seaborne amphibious invasion in history.  The Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library is one of the best places to find documents online.

World War II: D-Day, The Invasion of Normandy

United States, Britain, and Canadian veterans are in Normandy to mark 80 years since the D-Day landings that helped lead to Hitler’s defeat.  Each of them played a role in freeing Europe from the Nazis.  These surviving centenarian veterans are now sharing their memories of the invasion and more.  Our favorite remembrances include these:

We must all honor them for their service, which saved the free world.  In doing so, we must make the same commitment they did for freedom in the future.  Ukraine needs us now to make the same commitment these D-Day soldiers made.