Day of Days

On the 80th anniversary of D-Day

Today marks the 80th anniversary of D-Day. It will be the last round anniversary most of its surviving veterans live to mark. In recognition of this fact, American Airlines has organized a special tour for these veterans, waiving all expenses for them and their carers to fly to a memorial gathering in Normandy. Over the past few days, my normally bleak Twitter feed has brought me heartwarming clips of these men being serenaded and cheered along at each step of their journey. Crowds have lined their way in airports on both sides of the Atlantic, flags in hand. The First Lady of France was waiting to shake hands and kiss them all when they disembarked in Paris. Perhaps the most powerful clip I’ve seen is an arena full of cheering French high school students, 4,000 strong, on their feet for a solid minute. The announcer leads them in a chant of one word: “Liberté! Liberté! Liberté!

Could we muster that many of our own high school students in one arena for this purpose? I think so, depending on where you look. I imagine it wouldn’t be a problem in Texas. But it’s easy to be cynical, especially when we see images like this vandalized Stanford memorial to the fallen of the Spanish-American War. Across the names, some young ingrate has spray-painted the words “F*CK AMERIKKKA.” He must have been especially happy with the triple “KKK.” It’s the supreme irony: America, the great anti-Nazi liberator, now deemed no better than the Nazis. No wonder this hero reflects honestly that “I feel like a foreigner in my own country lots of times.”