Why we must remember

It’s more important now than ever that we remember the sacrifice borne by so many 73 years ago today.

In this moment, when our President is doing all in his power to weaken the bonds between America and Europe, we cannot allow those sacrifices to be for naught.

I wish every American could visit Normandy, walk its beaches, visit its cemeteries, speak with its people, who will never forget that so many of our fathers and grandfathers gave their lives, freely, for people they didn’t even know.

As Secretary of State, General Colin Powell said in 2003, “We have gone forth from our shores repeatedly over the last hundred years and…put wonderful young men and women at risk, many of whom have lost their lives, and we have asked for nothing except enough ground to bury them in…”

The NATO Alliance was the result of the almost unimaginable losses of World War 2 and the imminent threat of Russian aggression throughout Europe.

It may be more important right now than ever in its history, as Russia schemes once again, seizing Crimea outright and threatening Ukraine, and our own President, even if unintentionally, weakens its bonds.

We’re in a global game with real winners and losers, when losing means losing your life and your freedom.

This is why leadership matters.

This is why your voice matters.

Look, I may disagree with a policy that rewards the corrupt and despotic regimes of Saudi Arabia and Egypt but I understand its strategic roots.

When we went to war to oust Saddam Hussein, we tilted the Middle East playing field towards Iran, the natural enemy of Iraq. So making an attempt now to level that field is comprehensible.

But there is NO strategic advantage in weakening our allies in Europe by undermining NATO.

When our nation’s leader spends more time criticizing Germany than Russia, when he publicly lectures our long time allies while publicly praising Putin, who murders his own citizens and journalists, we must protest.

Decisions are being made in our names that will have consequences long after you and I are dead and gone.

This is not a time for passivity.

This is not a time to be uninformed or blindly believe the propaganda released in the White House press office or among the pages of Breitbart.

Men and women in the tens of millions died so that we could remain a democratic republic.

And then, those who survived and every other American citizen, paid the bills to re-build western Europe’s demolished cities. Check the tax rates in the late 1940s and 1950s.

The Greatest Generation shames us with their selflessness.

We must never, ever forget their sacrifice.

Never!