D-Day at 75: Rededicating Ourselves to the Mission

On the eve of D-Day, long in the planning as the biggest amphibious invasion in history, General Dwight D. Eisenhower sent a message to the troops. It began:

“Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force: You are about to embark on the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.”

It is our great blessing, as liberty-loving people, that this Great Crusade succeeded. June 6,1944 marked the beginning of the end for the German war machine and Nazi tyranny, all vanquished by the Allies working in concert and united in high purpose.

While the men who did the fighting may not have termed their purpose as so high-flown — their expressed purpose was to get through the war and get back to their loved ones — they nevertheless risked all, they literally laid their lives on the line, and by the end of the war, 407,316 American men in uniform had made the ultimate sacrifice.

In the postwar years, the Allies secured their hard-won victory with alliances (defense and trade) and an international system dedicated to keeping the peace through mutual cooperation. Here at home, Eisenhower, the war hero, was elected President; the commander-in-chief in the field became Commander-in-Chief of the nation. For a quarter of a century not only a generation boomed, so did the country.

But now, three-quarters of a century after the Holy Grail — liberty — was secured, where are we?

The simplest response to that question is: We are lost, America of late has lost its way. We have been flailing, wildly and fearfully, since 9/11. Poll after poll shows big majorities of Americans feeling the country is “off track.” What a falling-off there has been from the once-upon-a-time high purpose. Somehow, in the years following D-Day, our highest point, the hero gave way to the antihero, wars of no particular purpose — certainly none of high purpose — ensued, the culture degraded….

How came we to be so lost? My conjecture: We have abused our liberty, we have not handled properly the great inheritance handed…