…the world held its collective breath as the Allies undertook the long-awaited invasion of what the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler called his Fortress Europe. D-Day cost the lives of thousands of American and Allied soldiers, and it was only the dogged courage and perseverance of those troops that drove them to fight their way off the slaughterhouses that were the Normandy beaches that fateful day, June 6, 1944. Earlier in the war, Churchill had said of the British victory in November 1942 over German forces at El Alamein, “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” But after D-Day, one could imagine that it was, in fact, the beginning of the end, and from that foothold in Normandy, the Allies pushed on to the final victory in Europe almost one year later. On May 8, 1945, with Germany’s surrender, World War Two officially ended in Europe: Victory in Europe, V-E Day!

About D-Day, most Americans need to be reminded…a few still remember that day. For most Europeans, it lingers in their collective memory what it was like to live under authoritarian regimes and suffer the brutal occupation of what once were free societies. Eerily, it feels as though that once-crushed viper of fascism has slithered out of a dark hole and is at large once more. The new generations who have grown up in an era when messaging is instant, and in too many cases extremely insular and uncircumspect, have less and less exposure to disturbing realities that have gone unrecognized, and truth has become the victim–indeed, even the notion of what truth consists of, and how it is genuinely arrived at. The philosopher George Santayana warned that “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” America hovers perilously at that critical point, and what is at stake is our democracy, our republic.

Authoritarianism has found renewed vigor and is rearing its nasty head all around the world, and–unthinkably–even in the United States of America. Every American should feel a sense of obligation to our past, to our defenders who fought so valiantly to vanquish the ugly fascist scourge that menaced Europe decades ago, and now threatens us again. Do not stand by and curse the darkness. Shine light on big lies that self-serving demagogues and shameful hucksters propagate for the sake of power and personal gain. Mischief and chicanery hate the light. Keep faith with our traditions and our great past generation. They are counting on us to safeguard their legacy. Don’t let them down.

In Honor Of (uncles, father-in-law, father):

George Marrash, US Army, WWII, DOW France, 1944

Tony Marrash, US Army, WWII

Sam Sadie, US Marine Corps, WWII

Louis Gramesty, US Army, 8th Air Force, WWII

Elias T. Marrash, Auto-Ordnance Co., Thompson Submachine Gun makers, WWII