Pajamas Media

45 Comments

1. WhyamInotsurprised?:

At the end of the movie “Saving Private Ryan” there is a memorable statement made by the dying Cpt. John H. Miller to his charge, Pvt. James Ryan. He said as his last words, words that should be ingrained on every American heart …
“EARN THIS.”

The price paid by these troops was astounding. Not just the ones who died. Certainly the ones who survived did so with physical, mental and spiritual scars for the rest of their lives. That they could see the world be resurrected after a world war, and especially the USA, must have been gratifying. Now just two generations removed, much of that has been lost, forgotten, never taught at our government (tax payer) funded institutions of learning.

Now, I wonder just what they think now, having survived all these years, about what is happening to their country.

I have only thanks and gratitude for all their sacrifices and wish God’s blessings on them and their families. I only hope that when the coming crisis arrives with its full fury that we have another generation of people willing to do what is necessary to ensure the legacy those men and women fought and died for survives.

God Bless America! (Note to Our Dear Leader: No, we are not a country with one of the world’s largest Muslim populations!)

Jun 4, 2009 - 2:10 am 2. PatriotUSA:

Most wondeful article by Ms. Gould. No, I did not forget that day and we alawyas burn a candle for several family members who gave the ultimate sacrifice on the beaches of Normandy, Omaha Beach. MY father, and many of my uncles fought in the D-day onslaught and lived to tell about it. They never talked much about what had taken place. Our current “president and anti American administration” would just assume we forget about these dates and other; December 7th, 1941. Spetmeber 11th , 2001. Lest we never forget the sacrifices made back them so that we could and continue to be free, for now. We are under attack from a new and sinsiter enemy, Islam. We ARE at war with Islam plus we are under attack from the POTUS and his ilk. Thanks again Ms. Gould!

Jun 4, 2009 - 2:20 am 3. TomJW:

June 6th is the anniversity of D-Day. Today is a good anniversity too, June 4th, 1942, for The Battle of Midway. It broke the Japanese naval air power for the rest of the war. All while we were still warming up.

The success depended heavily on 3 squadrons of torpedo bombers going into their attacks unccordinated and without fighter protection. They were slaughtered, as they expected. They brought down the Japanese fighter cover that allowed our dive bombers to wipe out the enemy carriers. They torpedo bombers squadrons truly sacrificed themselves.

Jun 4, 2009 - 3:22 am 4. Juvenal:

The American and British elites are increasingly embarrassed and apologetic about any achievement in their common or respective heritages that is even remotely military. Never mind that, again and again, these military achievements kept tyranny in check or even saved whole nations of people living under tyranny.

In a democracy, people are always going to have differing views about when and where war is justified. But, as we look back on history, to relate our part in World War II as somehow shameful requires great effort of will in overcoming our own hearts and our own brains.

Jun 4, 2009 - 4:11 am 5. Meryl:

Does anyone remember the great allied victory?

Yes.

And we taught our children (who are now teaching their children) to understand it and honor it.

I’ll second WhyAmINotSurprised’s note to our Dear Leader. I won’t submit either. And I won’t accept dhimmi status.

How much you wanna bet the White House Christmas tree in 2009 will have the Islamic crescent on it somewhere……or maybe a whole treeful of them….

Jun 4, 2009 - 4:19 am 6. Old Soldier:

To commemorate the sacrifice our heroes made to defeat tyranny, President Obama will spend today groveling to tyrants.

Jun 4, 2009 - 4:34 am 7. Libertyship46:

June 6, 1944, is a date that sorely needs to be remembered by today’s generation. If it wasn’t for the movie “Saving Private Ryan,” I doubt most young Americans today would even know that the event took place. I remember a few years ago I gave a coworker of mine a copy of the DVD movie “The Great Escape,” which told the story or several hundred Allied prisoners of war working together to try and escape from a German prison camp during World War II. The coworker I gave the DVD to was, at that time, about 25. A week after I gave him the DVD I asked him how he liked it. He said, “I didn’t get it.” I replied, “What’s to get? It’s a story about several hundred Allied P.O.W.’s trying to break out of Nazi prison camp.” My young friend replied, “I didn’t get it. You had these English guys with funny accents and some American guys in this prison. What were they doing there? And who were those German guys and why were they keeping them there? And everything looked so old, like it took place years ago. Why were they fighting and why should I care?” I swear to you, I wanted to sit down right then and there and cry. This was an “educated” young man and a college graduate. Yet he knew about as much of World War II as I know about nuclear fission (which, trust me, is nothing at all). He barely had a grip on the war in Vietnam and anything that happened before that was ancient history and not worth knowing. I didn’t get angry at him because his lack of knowledge of history is (unfortunately) so very common among young people today. I vowed, at that very moment, I would do everything in my power, everything I could think of, to increase people’s knowledge, especially young people’s knowledge, of history, especially American military history. The rights we enjoy today were bought and paid for by previous generations of Americans who were willing to lay down their lives, what Lincoln called “Giving their last full measure of devotion,” so that we could live free today. Think about that. Some poor young kid died on the beaches of Normandy, or in the dark sands of Iwo Jima, or along the frozen ground of the Chosin Reservoir in Korea, or died an anonymous death in the waters of Midway, Coral Sea, Leyte Gulf, or off the coast of Guadalcanal, so that we could be free. Some ignorant cynical people today may think that those young kids were saps, but they certainly were not. How DARE young Americans forget this monumental sacrifice made by so many other young Americans from a different period, and how DARE we older Americans allow this to happen? It is our responsibility for all of us to remember, to understand, and to discuss what previous generations of brave Americans did. The men at the Alamo did not die there for nothing, the men who fought at Gettysburg fought there for a reason, and the men who never came back from Guadalcanal did so because they were fighting for something bigger than themselves, a cause they thought would make this world a better place to live in. There is good and evil in this world and sometimes, just sometimes, we have to decide whether or not a good people should stand up to a terrible evil, such as we did during World War II and like we are doing now in our fight against Muslim terrorists. So please, read up on your history and talk to some young people about it. The only way this country will remain strong is if we remember our past and appreciate the sacrifices our predecessors made for us. And remember, this current generation may be asked to make similar sacrifices in some far-off land, such as Afghanistan, and it’s up to the rest of us to recognize the sacrifices made by these brave individuals and to honor them. The answers to our future lie in our past and whoever remembers the past will have a far easier time navigating through the troubled waters of tomorrow’s conflicts.

Jun 4, 2009 - 4:57 am 8. jerryofva:

Carol:

I hate to nitpick your fine article but I feel that I must set the record straight. There were no organized Australian units participating in the D-Day invasion. The Commonwealth forces allocate to the invasion came from Canada. They came ashore on Juno Beach. My mother was Canadian and I feel that I must correct this grievous error.

Jun 4, 2009 - 5:29 am 9. WR Jonas:

I remember. It was a fearful day. I was 10 years old and my brother and I listened to the first sketchy reports on a crystal radio receiver between our beds .
Our beloved Uncle Robert Neeson was a machinists mate aboard the USS Rockaway patrolling the English Channel . His ship was part of the second wave that supported the amphibious assault at Omaha. The thought of those men storming the coast straight into German fire was barely understandable . We knew, everyone knew the human cost would be staggering and the destruction unimagineable.
It was quite a long time later when we knew the Americans were now in Europe and the War had changed . My uncle made it safely through and he led a long and successful life.
I can still recall it all in my minds eye.

Jun 4, 2009 - 5:52 am 10. Carol Gould:

Dear Jerryovfa,
When I went to Normandy in 2004 for the 60th anniversary I interviewed New Zealand and Australian veterans who told me they were ‘unofficially’ involved in the landings with British forces and went on to fight in the Hertgen Forest/Operation Market Garden/Ardennes. I also met several Britons who ‘unofficially’ joined up with the American 101st Airborne and who go to their American reunions every year. One showed me his membership card.
You consider this a ‘grievous error’ but I wanted to pay tribute to every nationality I have met who were involved in the liberation. I hate to think these men were having me on.
When Prince Charles appeared on British television in 2004 there were complaints from every imaginable country because he seemed to want to pay tribute only to Britain’s soldiers. About ten years ago an Australian was refused entry to the UK and went nuts, saying he had served in the Normandy invasion and in Operation Market Garden/Battle of the Bulge. One of the best resources for the period is ‘The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge’ by Hugh Cole, one of many I am using for research on my next WWII book.
I hate to think these men are liars. We must remember that in WWII Palestinian Jews fought with the British but were ‘unofficial’ and essentially ‘never there.’ The book ‘The Forgotten Ally’ by Pierre van Paassen, for which I wrote the preface, is a good chronicle of the WWII Middle East campaigns:

http://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Ally-Pierre-Van-Paassen/dp/0977102106

Jun 4, 2009 - 7:11 am 11. jerryofva:

Carol:

I clearly stated “organized units.” I know that there were many individual Commonwealth soldiers, sailors and airmen who were assigned to UK forces but you left off the Canadians of the 3rd Infantry Division. The Canadians suffered the second highest casualty rate of the June 6 amphibious assault (340 KIA and 574 WIA). That indeed is a grievous error. Failure to acknowledge the contribution of the major Commonwealth force participating in the invasion undercuts your argument about the historical amnesia that we are seeing today.

Jun 4, 2009 - 7:22 am 12. Carol Gould:

Jerryofva,
Can we just pay tribute to all who served and died and stop quibbling?

Jun 4, 2009 - 7:50 am 13. sheesh:

12. Carol Gould . . . “Can we just pay tribute to all who served and died and stop quibbling?”

I wonder if any Muslims served. Interesting question, right? It’s too easy to forget what happened, and didn’t happen, after D-Day . . . when black men who fought bravely came home to a country that afforded them no dignity, which was rightfully theirs not only by birthright as a human being but also as reward for their courageous service and sacrifice. “Thanks, Sambo, now get in the back of the bus.”

Frankly, the conservatives’ self-righteous appropriation of all it took to wage and win WWII and use it to denigrate everybody who disagrees with them in today’s world is the only proof required to show they don’t understand the first thing about America.

Jun 4, 2009 - 8:07 am 14. Fred Beloit:

Sheets, you smarty pants, you are wrong again. Yawn. The black men in the military in WWII set an example of brave service to the nation that in the 50s resulted in Eisenhower’s making the U.S. military services colorblind. I don’t think you understand the first thing about America, Sheets.

Jun 4, 2009 - 8:31 am 15. Peter the Bubblehead:

13. sheesh wrote:
Frankly, the conservatives’ self-righteous appropriation of all it took to wage and win WWII and use it to denigrate everybody who disagrees with them in today’s world is the only proof required to show they don’t understand the first thing about America.

Peter writes: Sounds to me like someone other than conservative is being self-righteous and appropriating history to fit their own agenda.

Jun 4, 2009 - 8:42 am 16. Meryl:

“I wonder if any Muslims served”
Sheesh, what is your reason for suddenly including in the discussion a group defined by religion only.

Your assertion about the blacks who served is right on. I’m so glad that some years later, the Republicans were able to hold the feet of the Democrat caucus to the fire and get the Civil Rights Act passed.

Jun 4, 2009 - 8:43 am 17. Bohemond:

“I wonder if any Muslims served.”

Yes, they did. In the SS.

“In Spring 1943, the Mufti of Jerusalem, Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, (aka Amin al-Husseini), was recruited by the Nazis to assist in the organizing and recruiting Bosniaks into the Waffen SS” (This would become the 13th SS Division ‘Handshar’)

“Our fundamental condition for cooperating with Germany was a free hand to eradicate every last Jew from Palestine and the Arab world. I asked Hitler for an explicit undertaking to allow us to solve the Jewish problem in a manner befitting our national and racial aspirations and according to the scientific methods innovated by Germany in the handling of its Jews. The answer I got was: ‘The Jews are yours’.”

-Muhammed Hajj Amin al-Husayni

Jun 4, 2009 - 8:50 am 18. Keith M:

As stated earlier, it was the Canadians who had an entire landing zone to themselves at Juno Beach. To put it in perspective for the size of Canada, the American would have had 10 landing zones and the British would have had just about 5. Canada ended the war with the fourth largest navy. The Canadian contribution to WW II was immense for a country of just 11 million. This is consistently overlooked especially in the American media. I know we sound like the anoying little brother at times but….

Jun 4, 2009 - 8:51 am 19. wildman:

If ww2 was fought today, we would lose. The media and the politicians would see to that. The greens would complain about the ecological damage. Peta would complain about the harm to animals. OSHA would ensure that each howitzer could not be used in an unsafe way. The aclu would extend consttutional rights to the japanese and german combatants. My Dad fought in the war and i am always amazed of what these true patriots went through. I am saddened though, that through their sacrifice, we are now saddled with a surplus of idiots.

Jun 4, 2009 - 9:20 am 20. Juvenal:

Sheesh wrote:

“Frankly, the conservatives’ self-righteous appropriation of all it took to wage and win WWII and use it to denigrate everybody who disagrees with them in today’s world is the only proof required to show they don’t understand the first thing about America.”

Just because conservatives are not joining people like you, Sheesh, in defecating on “all it took to wage and win” World War II, does not mean they have “appropriated” it. The leftist establishment that holds sway today is ignorant of the historical facts of the war, are incapable of applying its lessons, and denigrates the war effort and the people who made it.

We haven’t appropriated WWII; we just haven’t repudiated it.

Jun 4, 2009 - 9:37 am 21. jerryofva:

Sheesh:

The title of the article is “Does Anyone Remember the Great Allied Victory?” and yet the author seems to forgotten to mention one of the primary contributors to the invasion force. I guess the irony is lost to you. This failure of memory is not liberal/conservative issue and I would hope that a knowledgeable person (that excludes you) of any political persuasion would take note of this. Keith does a yeoman’s job of showing Canada’s contribution to D-Day and the Allied cause.

Today we hear a lot about the NATO contribution to the fight against Islamic extremism in Afghanistan. That NATO contribution is really almost completely made up from the D-Day coalition of the US, UK and Canada. Anybody who has watched Don Cherie’s segment on Hockey Night in Canada (available in the US through the NHL channel) will be made painfully aware of how much support Canada has given to US forces as Coach Cherie pays tribute to the Canadian soldiers who died supporting the US in the AFQ-PAK theater of operations.

Jun 4, 2009 - 9:54 am 22. newguy40:

Sheesh: Do you think the lot of the blacks would have been better had the US been conquered by Japan or Germany.
Just look at how Japan treated their fellow asians under the “Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere”. Don’t even get me started on Nazi Germany. You are just another “Hate America First” scum.

Of course, I celebrate and remember and have taught both my boys accordingly. Just as I do for Gettysburg, Cowpen, San Jacinto, Bellau Woods, Fallujah and many other examples of American victory and sacrifice.

Jun 4, 2009 - 10:19 am 23. Juvenal:

jerryofva–

I disagree somewhat that the failure of memory is not a left-right issue. I think the left is actively trying to confuse our collective memory by taking wrongs (like continued segregation in the U.S.) that either had nothing to do with the war effort itself or are only related to it tangentially, as in sheesh’s brainless excretions above.

But sheesh did bring something up that has me curious: Bohemond rightly points out the participation in the S.S. of Arabs (he should also have included Yugoslav Muslims on that roster). Does anyone know, with any degree of certainty, how many Muslims served in the Indian army on the Allied side?

Jun 4, 2009 - 10:25 am 24. nedarc:

Thank You, I wish more people were like you! I think like you do often, I used to live in London and the States and love both Countries; However,I am sorry to say, the U.S. has forgotten as well,that for future generations for a long time will be in debt to those brave young men & some women so many yrs ago. My Dad was with the 52nd Troop Carrier with the 9th Army Air Force stationed at Cottesmore, Eng. Participated in N. Africa,D-Day, Dropping Supp. to the 101st in the battle of the bulge, Market Garden Etc. 7 battle stars. As an Officer on the eve of a battle he would always invite as many Airborne troops he could from thier muddy pup tents to his warmer quarters. For some, this would be thier last night on earth and being an Intelligence officer, he well knew it. God bless you, Carol.

Jun 4, 2009 - 10:37 am 25. Librarian:

It is not “Saving Private Ryan” but “Band of Brothers” that our jr. high and high school boys check out. I tell them that the language is atrocious and that the men said they didn’t talk that way, but that is how the director’s chose to have them talk. But then I also tell them it is a great set of DVDs and that they need to watch it more than once to get the full drift of what our wonderful soldiers went through. I love being able then, to direct them to the books that have been written by these men.

Jun 4, 2009 - 10:43 am 26. Paul from Hamburg:

Jerryofva: Minor point, but it is “Don Cherry”, not “Don Cherie”.

Jun 4, 2009 - 12:03 pm 27. YannC:

Of course we remember these guys who came from all over the world (US, Australia, NZ, Canada, Poland, and so much more) to fight together for freedom against tyrany, here in France and more. But do you know that recent “french” citizens (means “from recent immigration waves”, mainly muslims) don’t care a peanut about that ? And, more, that they consider this with distance and suspicion and even critisize these ages of glory, in the name of the “Everything-from-america-is-satan, and-french-History-is lies-for-us,-so-nothing-dares us to agree with you and to respect your point of vue about D-Days” ? I exaggerate by purpose, but NOT that much anyway. Respect to truth and true fighters.

Jun 4, 2009 - 12:10 pm 28. Войска ПВО:

13. sheesh writes:

“..which was rightfully theirs not only by birthright as a human being but also as reward for their courageous service and sacrifice. “Thanks, Sambo, now get in the back of the bus.”

..kind of like when I was spat upon and called “baby killer” by your ilk while in in the San Francisco and Los Angeles airports during the Viet Nam war? You and your slimy bunch are beyond tedious; may you all die and go to hell with a h*rd-on.

Jun 4, 2009 - 12:52 pm 29. Middleman:

#17,
And do you know who the Grand Mufti was the great uncle to? Yassir Arafat. The Grand Mufti is also considered to be one of the father’s of Arab nationalism, however many of the staunchest Arab nationalists are in fact Christians.

Jun 4, 2009 - 12:57 pm 30. myth buster:

sheesh, you’re right, black veterans did return from WWII only to be greeted by racism. That was one of the major catalysts for the civil rights movement. Even the most ardent segregationists are bound to have a difficult time arguing for the substandard treatment of a war hero.

Jun 4, 2009 - 1:23 pm 31. whataloadacrap08:

How do we remember D-Day, with flowery and important words and with actions that betray everything D-Day stands for, that’s how! Just last winter, a D-Day veteran in Michigan froze to death in his own home because they shut his electric power off.
And speaking of Michigan, how about that place called Detroit? That engine of prosperity that built the engines of war (and the tanks they went into) that crushed the Nazi’s and Japanese totalitarians is now a rotting corpse festering along the shores of Lake Michigan.
Bring a diamond sharp weed whacker with you to the Carolinas, you’re going to need it to cut through the kudzu vines covering the shuttered textile plants that made the clothing our GI’s wore that day back in 1944. I’m sure the Chinese would sell us the cloth we used to make if we ever went to war with them, eh?
The only thing we manufacture in America these days are lies. If our boys back in ‘44 knew what America would turn out to be nowadays I’ll bet a whole lot of them would have said turn these assault boats around!
I know I would.

Jun 4, 2009 - 1:27 pm 32. Marie Claude:

whataloadacrap08

“If our boys back in ‘44 knew what America would turn out to be nowadays I’ll bet a whole lot of them would have said turn these assault boats around!
I know I would.”

Would that have empeched that the Chineses still would make your stuffs ?

Jun 4, 2009 - 1:48 pm 33. hvs:

Tens of thousands of men were “marshaling” as early as June 2nd. They were aboard rolling ships in the English Channel for as much as four days before the invasion began, and assaulted the five beaches exhausted from the sail and sea sickness.

Jun 4, 2009 - 4:19 pm 34. whataloadacrap08:

#32 Marie Claude: I’m not quite sure what you are saying, but please allow me to illuminate what I have previously written.

If the soldiers of ‘44 had any inkling of what the USA would become today, then I’m sure a lot of them would’ve asked the question “Is this what we are we fighting for?”. An America which has abandoned its traditional manufacturing base in favor of globalization, regardless of the disrupted lives and lost capabilities here at home. An America where the traditional values of thrift, patriotism, personal responsibility and self-reliance have been tossed aside in favor of a credo far removed from anything the boys of ‘44 had known in thier lives. As can be witnessed by the massive deficit spending by government and individuals. As witnessed by societal pressures to embrace internationalism and allegiance to the idea of the global village in favor of pride in our own countrys heritage, history and accomplishments. And as witnessed by an America that has renounced the idea of personal responsibilty in favor of guiltless victimhood no matter the so-called victims culpability in his/her own situation. In short an America that far more resembles the totalitarian regimes we were fighting during WWII than the nation our soldiers represented in those days.

Given that admittedly impossible scenario incorporating 20/20 visions of the future, I’m sure the fellas would’ve wanted to turn the landing crafts around and go back home to fix America first before embarking on any European adventures. I would too.

PS: Regarding my comments regarding Chinese manufactured goods, what I am saying is that thanks to the idea of one-world globalization America no longer has the ability to sustain itself in any WWII type situation because a great many of the basic necessities that would be required to wage that type of war have been outsourced to foreign nations that may not necessarily agree with or want to support our agenda.

Jun 4, 2009 - 5:10 pm 35. Carol Gould:

Ironic too that this weekend Gordon Brown is about to be toppled as Prime Minister and the news cycle is filled with Parliamentary scandals but little about D Day.
Did anyone see the remarkable sequence on NBC news tonight about the DDay survivor photographed on Omaha Beach by Robert Capa and tracked down this week to a seaside village on the Northwest coast of the USA?

Jun 4, 2009 - 5:20 pm 36. Marie Claude:

whataloadacrap08, I know, it’s the same here.
We all shall depend on the Chineses good will, they are buying the energy and mineral ressources everywhere, rewarding the local populations with the necessary and or gadget goods that they manufacture

Jun 4, 2009 - 6:37 pm 37. 98ZJUSMC:

“It is not “Saving Private Ryan” but “Band of Brothers” that our jr. high and high school boys check out. I tell them that the language is atrocious and that the men said they didn’t talk that way, but that is how the director’s chose to have them talk.”

If that’s what grabs you about depictions of men at war, I wouldn’t suggest hanging around with any group of Marines.

“The Marines I have seen around the world have the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale, and the lowest morals of any group of animals I have ever seen. Thank God for the United States Marine Corps!”
– Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States, 1945

Jun 4, 2009 - 8:02 pm 38. john from cinncinatti:

i can’t speak for anyone but mine. i know that the ssgt rolling around iraq, remembers his grandpa, USS Lexington CV-2. two of them, in uniform took the ol man to a reunion luncheon, the third one couldn’t because he was in Afghanistan.yeah he was a proud grandpa. i heard this generation is called the echo generation. lots of people remember, and they know what is the right thing to do.

Jun 4, 2009 - 10:11 pm 39. WhyamInotsurprised?:

#13 Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeesh, aka, “Shit for Brains”

Uhmmmm, Muslims fighting with the Allies on the D-Day Invasion? Wow, never thought about that one! I wonder how many fish were killed on the beaches that day? What did it mean for the local eco-system to have all that human blood and body parts all over the ocean? Deep, penetrating, mind dazzling questions! You take the cake!

As for blacks, recognize that while there was racism, they, they acted with courage and served proudly in whatever role they were told. They were the ones who fought for their children and paved the way for civil rights. They helped the slow, painful change of attitudes through their service, pride and sacrifice. Recognize that and stopping being an ass! This article is about remembering them. It is not about you Dickwad!

They did not just view themselves as victims. They did more for their people than you do for your liberal cause acting as if you are serving their defense. I’ll bet each one of those men and women would tell you to stick your pretentiousness where the sun does not shine.

Jun 5, 2009 - 3:58 am 40. Brian:

June 6 ,1944-The Allies launch a massive invasion of so-called”Fortress Europe”.I seem to remember a CONSERVATIVE named Churchill kept the Allies hanging in there until the invasion too.Interesting how nowadays some get their history from movies.I got mine from books and encyclopedias.Books remember those?hehe.
Now its 65 years later and we all know where Hitlers ideology went-straight to the Mid-east.Iran comes to mind.

Jun 5, 2009 - 2:33 pm 41. Pat J:

Wow. This article actually brought tears to my eyes. Let us never forget the brave sacrifice of these brave men that day. God and Goddess bless them all.

Jun 5, 2009 - 8:25 pm 42. no name:

6Jun1944 a day to remember and honor,a day when brave men gave their all. why then oh god is our nation cursed with so many idiots,aholes,cowards,and commies? have we pissed you off,or are we just reaping the whirlwind of our own stupidity. if this be the case have mercy upon us. forgive us. and eradicate these foul bastards from our presence forever. Amen!

Jun 5, 2009 - 11:18 pm 43. Carol Gould:

New Zealand war hero to be commemorated in Trafalgar Square:

http://www.scoop.co.nz/multimedia/tv/world/21738.html

Jun 6, 2009 - 1:45 am 44. Rachel Peepers:

Not only do I remember the historical significane of D-Day, but I always remember the joke President Obama made years ago on a local Chicago TV show about it.

He said, “After I saw the American invaders shoot German troops trying to surrender, I was rooting for the Nazis.”

Of course, he laughed and didn’t mean it. But that Obama sense of humor has a history of getting him into trouble.

Jun 7, 2009 - 1:46 pm 45. Dave Surls:

“I hate to nitpick your fine article but I feel that I must set the record straight. There were no organized Australian units participating in the D-Day invasion.”

Don’t forget the flyboys. There were some RAAF units involved in the invasion. Also lots of Australian personnel were serving in the RAF and RN, even if they weren’t in Australian units.

“Does anyone know, with any degree of certainty, how many Muslims served in the Indian army on the Allied side?”

There were about 450,000 Muslims serving in the Indian army as of January 1945. I would imagine that the French units recruited in North Africa and the Levant probably had a Muslim or three on the rolls as well. Might have been a few more serving in the armed forces of the Soviet Union too.

If I was a gambling man, I’d bet that a hell of a lot more Muslims fought on the Allied side than on the Axis side in WWII. You just don’t hear much about them.

Jun 8, 2009 - 1:27 am

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