American Liberators
Rethinking today's caliber of citizens
For all the dead who gave their lives for our freedom.
I remember when Hubs and I made our first trip to Europe (together). It was a road trip. We crossed borders, men came out of guard shacks to look at our passports and we had to exchange money at the first bank we found. One of the experiences driving through a small hamlet in Luxembourg has left a lasting impression on me. In 1987, WW2 had only been over for just over 40 years. As with all history, those who lived it die off one by one. We drove into this little town of Diekirtch and there in the middle of town was an American tank from WW2, white star and all. It had a sign in front of it that said “America, Our Liberators”. I was amazed and very proud.
During WW2 there were organic resistance movements all over Europe. The Nazis rounded up not just Jews, but gypsies, homosexuals, patriots, communists, blacks, political dissidents, socialists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, intellectuals. Anyone who did not heil the hitler ideology was a threat and spied on, beaten and hauled off to possible extermination. The Aryan ideal left out many classes and groups, which forced all these unlikely “misfits” to work together for the common good of ALL of them. The divisions between them before Hitler started his evil purge were huge, then all the “undesirables” slowly started to understand that if they did not act as one collective body (beliefs and politics be damned) they would all surely perish at the hands of Nazi monsters and their mindless minions.
Between 1933 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its allies established more than 44,000 camps and other incarceration sites (including ghettos). The perpetrators used these sites for a range of purposes, including forced labor, detention of people thought to be enemies of the state, and for mass murder.
Bullies and snitches were promoted and given truncheons. Neighbors informed upon neighbor, but still, the resistance was giant.
Picture it: Americans rolling into towns that had been under the boot heel of Nazi occupation for literally years. We were their only and best hope, these allies. Brave men who left the comforts of home to fight in and for land that they had no physical stake in. Men of America, Canada, Australia etc. fought long and fought hard to relieve the oppression of Nazis because it was the right thing to do. These people were truly The Greatest Generation. And so many Americans died…about 406,000, according to ‘the internet’.
Hub’s uncle Hank was involved in 3 invasions and fought in 7 theaters of operation in Europe. And lived to tell the tale. And, boy what tales he told. He was in the 62nd Armored Field Artillery Battalion and Hubs finally had a chance in 1990 to sit down with him and record his experiences.
I remember when a friend and I took a group holiday from the UK to Italy. It was 1987 and we had booked this trip through a travel agent. We found ourselves on a giant tour bus with British OAP’s. (Old Age Pensioners). Surrounded by all those old people…needless to say, was an education. These people had lived through WW2. I am so disgusted with my shortsighted self. I am sure there were many stories on that bus. But, I missed them. There was one piece I did take away was when we were ambling through the French countryside.
Behind me I heard some talking and the word Vichy was spat out like poison. I was young and ignorant and I am sure these older people forgave my question because I was a 23 year old American girl when I asked what Vichy meant. It was explained to me that this area in France we were driving through was a known Vichy stronghold during WW2. The Vichy collaborated with the Nazis and turned on their own. Vichy was basically synonymous with Nazi. Lesson learned. And, these people on that bus had lost loved ones to the war, probably fought in the war and still held grudges against the French, especially Vichy French.
In today’s climate, monuments to the past get ripped down by anarchists. It is so easy to be bullied by those who deny the past when it was not your country that was torn apart by war. I respect the Poles who have managed to keep Auschwitz from becoming a bare piece of land with a plaque. It is still standing (some) because they want to remember. They want to remember the dead. They want to remember the atrocities committed there so it doesn’t happen again.
Does anybody really think that the caliber and quality of the American person has become any better in the last 80 years? Do we really think that people have evolved into more intelligent creatures with a higher sense of morals, ethics and humanity? Does anybody think that the Americans of today would rise up and fight (and win) a giant world war on 2 fronts simultaneously? That there would be an entire generation of citizens of the world that would be forever indebted and grateful to a nation full of Americans who dropped everything to fight for the collective world’s freedom? Could the American of today give up their non-essential creature comforts, food intake, Lazy Boy and Netflix to scavenge metal and live day to day, hand to mouth with ration books for food to fight or help a war effort, as they did in WW2? Yeah. I don’t either.
Here is to all who did. May we be truly mindful of your sacrifice and never forget.
Love, Sadie
No more wars, please! They are human sacrifices! I hope the young can understand the con of war which is to make money as the same people as they play both sides!
Too bad the greatest generation wasn't aware their ruling class tyrants were already planning the ultimate World Government tyranny as the fruit of the WWII victory,. Some knew, of course, from the moment the Rockefellers donated their land in NYC to build the UN Building! Unfortunately, WWII was a totally wasted effort.