American and European leaders should work to maintain the friendship and alliance that so many fought and died for 60 years ago.
Published June 6, 2004
By this time 60 years ago today, 17,000 U.S. and British paratroopers moving behind enemy lines had opened along the beaches of France what Dwight Eisenhower would describe as a "mighty host . . . tense as a coiled spring." The world would later remember it as the greatest amphibious assault ever attempted. President Bush will stand on that hallowed ground today, joining hands with other allied leaders to praise the bravery and sacrifice of those who swept ashore at Normandy. It should be a moment to reflect on the reasons so many people from so many places gave their lives for a common cause.
Normandy will always live in memory, not only because of its magnitude - 156,000 men, 6,000 warships, 11,000 planes, 4,500 U.S. and Allied troops killed - but because it was part of a military strategy meant to cement democracy. As Eisenhower, the supreme commander, said to the troops June 6 in his Order of the Day: "The eyes of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you." While the invasion took place in France, it fanned the desire for freedom throughout occupied Europe, inspiring the resistance, giving Poles and others a taste for self-rule and opening the way for former enemies to unite politically, economically and militarily.
The North Atlantic alliance has matured fairly well over these many years, even though the French in particular have broken with the United States on key political and security issues, most recently the war in Iraq. Our relationship with the French people is still strong, as today's images will remind people on both sides of the Atlantic. Americans are proud to have helped defeat Hitler, and the Europeans are grateful. Today's anniversary is a time to appreciate the spirit we shared in that important cause.
Commentators, no doubt, will look to the body language between Bush and France's Jacques Chirac for signs that the break over Iraq betrays larger incompatibilities between Washington and modern Europe. That would demean the broad ideals that D-day veterans fought and died for.
Europe remains the United States' strongest ally in promoting democracy because of the example our troops set, captured perfectly at Normandy. Even 60 years later, it is obvious that the cause was great, the courage incredible. President Bush should not let the moment pass without calling the world's attention to the massive amount of goodwill built up since that horrible June dawn. Taking it for granted ignores the sacrifice of millions of Americans who paid for it.
