Remembering D-Day heroes who saved the world
On June 3, 1994, I flew to Paris with the goal of seeing all U.S. landing beaches on the 50th anniversary of D-Day. I did it and met the D-Day heroes.
I met a French Resistance fighter, saw World War II veterans parachute and met one. I saw Ste. Mere-Eglise at midnight, the start of D-Day. I got a ride to Utah Beach, Omaha Beach and Pointe du Hoc. One man described being on the first wave at Omaha Beach.
President Clinton: “The men on the beach were cut down by artillery and machine gun fire. When it seemed almost hopeless, something happened— something born in a democracy and on the baseball fields of their youth. First by ones and twos, then threes and tens, they got up. They secured the beachhead and marked the beginning of the end of the war. While these men may not have as much spring in their step today, when they were young, they saved the world.”
DANIEL F. KIRK, KENNESAW
WWII a grim reminder of how totalitarianism spreads
Anyone still undecided about this fall’s presidential election should visit the U.S. Freedom Pavilion at The National World War II Museum in New Orleans. You will learn about the rise of totalitarian states like Germany, Japan and Italy.
It starts with the belief that one group of citizens is purer or more deserving than others, followed by undermining the press (fake news), the judiciary (witch hunts) and elections (stop the steal). Then, you end up in a society without elections, an independent judiciary or any press critical of the government.
Many Americans lost their lives fighting against these countries. Let’s not follow the dangerous path they took to totalitarianism.
MICHAEL E. MCCONNELL, M.D., ATLANTA
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