On democracy, and the price we pay to keep it
One day last spring, my wife and I were walking on a hiking trail in the town of Bayeux, the closest town to the Normandy D-Day beaches. We came upon a Frenchman walking his dog, and we conversed in the little bit of French we knew and the little bit of English he knew. In a voice that became a bit choked up, he thanked us for what our soldiers had done over 75 years ago.
“Whenever I meet an American, I always thank them for what they did to give us back our country,” he said.
During our time in Normandy, we rented bikes and rode out to the Utah, Omaha and Gold beaches. We visited museums and explored the remains of stone fortifications that held German machine guns. And we couldn’t help but reflect on the vulnerability of democracy — a vulnerability that persists today.
It was a moving experience to wander through the Normandy American Cemetery, which contains the graves of 9,387 of our military dead: so many white marble headstones designating these brave soldiers, many of them in their teens and early 20s. Most knew, as they were getting on the boats that would bring them ashore, that they would most likely die.
Why would they take such a risk?
This was a time when many Americans knew their way of life was in danger. They came ashore in Normandy to preserve the freedoms we have today. They were willing to give up their own lives for something more important.
Years ago I had the good fortune to interview the “60 Minutes” commentator and writer Andy Rooney about a memoir he had written concerning his time as a journalist and soldier during World War ll. I complimented him on his service and mentioned how so many people at that time in America stood up to fight and defeat fascism.
“You really are the greatest generation, aren’t you?” I said.
He laughed and grumbled in that typical Andy Rooney way and said, “I don’t buy that ‘greatest generation’ stuff. Every American generation faced with what we were faced with would do the same thing.” Would we? Would we do the same today?
We are faced with a decision this fall that may decide what direction our country is going to follow. Many of us feel the democracy we have grown up with, and the democracy we often take for granted, will be on the ballot this November. In a recent NPR poll, 75 percent of Americans — both Republicans and Democrats — said they fear American democracy is at risk.
In his book “D-Day: June 6, 1944,” which I read before our Normandy trip, Stephen Ambrose refers to a television interview back in 1964, 20 years after D-Day, when Walter Cronkite sat with Dwight Eisenhower on Omaha Beach. Looking out at the English Channel, Eisenhower said, “You see these people out here swimming and sailing their little pleasure boats and taking advantage of the nice weather and the lovely beach, and it’s almost unreal to look at it today and remember what it was.”
Eisenhower continued: “But it’s a wonderful thing to remember what those fellows 20 years ago were fighting for and sacrificing for, what they did to preserve our way of life. Not to conquer any territory, not for any ambitions of our own. But to make sure Hitler could not destroy freedom in the world.”
This June will mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day. But when you visit the Normandy beaches and walk on the sand where this invasion happened, you experience it in a very real way; and for many who live in those little villages and towns nearby; it’s an event that has never really been forgotten.
In 2024, in our own simple way, we can make a difference by striving to understand the issues in this election as clearly and as fully as possible. And then we can vote to preserve what those 9,387 soldiers gave their lives for.