D-Day Week: Reflections on a Formative Week

“Like all of us who have never been in combat, they wondered if they could have done it—and even more, they wondered how anyone could have done it.”

“… their only source of morale, other than the shared experience of hazard and hardship, was the character and patriotism, of the soldiers...”

“In one way, we were lucky: only in the extremity of total war does a society give so much responsibility for life and death decision making to men so young. Together, the junior officers and NCOs who survived the war were the leaders in building modern America.” --Stephen Ambrose, Citizen Soldiers

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What a week it has been. It was filled with tears, deep thoughts, stirred passions, fatigue, and roaring laughter. Since departing, a strange fog has enveloped my mood. I am beyond grateful for these people, saddened by what they had to endure, and sorrowful that they will soon be gone. I feel both humbled and inspired, filled with a rising ambition to honor their legacy. But how does one honor a legacy of such immense greatness?

Sharing knowledge is a start; this experience has enriched me with more knowledge than I had before. However, knowledge alone can be crass if not accompanied by purpose. I once met a businessman who was a walking encyclopedia of World War II facts and figures. He knew every detail about Panzer Divisions and the Patton vs. Rommel encounters. Initially, I was impressed and almost mesmerized. Over time, however, I grew irritated. His conversations lacked a deeper purpose and moral clarity, turning knowledge into a mere flex, comparable to flaunting a car or watch collection.

I asked him why people so rarely end up on the right side of history. How did Churchill know what so many others did not in the early days of the war? We Americans didn’t start on the right side of history. Britain was being bombed and at risk of invasion, and we waited until we were attacked and killed. Another instance of history repeating itself.

The question didn't resonate with him, so I stopped asking. But I continue to ask myself: how do we ensure we live both freely and well? This hinges on how we ask and answer such profound questions. The American soldier stood for something greater: the American creed. This creed resides within each of us, the American people. If it fades from us, it will be lost to future generations.

Some real truths: freedom isn’t free, character is hard to cultivate, and evil exists. The story of World War II is a testament to those truths. It was a moral crucible, and those who lived through it overcame unimaginable fears of death and oppression. They prevailed in the most epic way possible, and we have all benefited. Yet, we have grown comfortable and take our freedom and peace for granted.

As citizens in America, we are not subjects; we are stewards and stakeholders. You don’t need to be on the front lines, but if you are free, you are part of a lifelong struggle to keep it that way. It requires each of us to keep the light of liberty shining with as much effort as we put into our comforts.

Our GIs brought smiles. Especially compared to our allies, the Soviets, even the Nazis wanted to be captured by Americans not Soviets. The picture above is of two U.S. soldiers with the only little girl in a Normandy town. Being in Normandy last week, people still pour love and gratitude onto our veterans. Among the carnage at the time, we tried to do what’s right, even if we weren’t always successful.

These smiles sprang from their hearts and from the ideals of the American people. Our GIs were recruited from the people. They were citizens before they were soldiers. And so are you, citizens before businessmen, politicians, celebrities, influencers, and the like.

We idolize these GIs not only for what they did and gave us but also because they represent a part of us that we aspire to be. Those ideas aren’t quaint or old-fashioned. They understood that they were part of something bigger than themselves: not just the war effort but in stewarding the principles of the American Experiment. The American idea requires both a very real commitment to individual liberty, protected and advanced together. They were the "we" generation. E Pluribus Unum. They made a more perfect union and defeated threats to the cause of liberty together.

Imagine how different our politics, culture, civic life, and overall sense of direction would be if we understood and embodied that ethos the way they did. We’d be capable of stopping tyrants, building a more peaceful world, and creating a new modern America. Certainly, this is a stark contrast from the pessimism and short-term thinking that we see today.

We can honor them by reviving a truth they knew: being free must always be nurtured and ready to be protected. Its power rests in the people, in you, not in governments or corporations. This will guide our political choices and, more importantly, how we live our lives — with more purpose, lifting others, more understanding and critical thinking, eagerness to overcome big problems, reacting to different opinions in media or among people, and advancing the cause of liberty and self-government.

The best Americans led with more of themselves, from every position, embracing innovation, camaraderie, and accountability. The last 250 years have taught us that dignity and freedom march on when they are alive in the heart, mind, and will, even when forces of control seduce us to give them up.

If we aim and do the work to safeguard liberty and unlock the best of human potential and goodness, we will achieve it. The course of history will bend in our favor. As historian Stephen Ambrose observed about the values of past generations, "Civil War soldiers were accustomed to using words like duty, honor, cause, and country. The GIs didn’t like to talk about country or flag and were embarrassed by patriotic bombast. They were all American boys, separated by eighty years only—but that separation included World War I. The Great War changed the language. It made patriotic words sound hollow, unacceptable, ridiculous, especially for the next set of young Americans sent to Europe to fight over the same battlefields their fathers had fought over. Nevertheless, as much as the Civil War soldiers, the GIs believed in their cause. They knew they were fighting for decency and democracy, and they were proud of it and motivated by it. They just didn’t talk or write about it. They spoke with their actions. They came as liberators, not conquerors. Only a tiny percentage of them wanted to be there, but only a small percentage failed to do their duty.”

We honor their legacy by doing our duty together, as citizens, every day. We show our kids the same duty to carry the torch by exercising that duty with one another today. In doing so, we build a modern America that both our kids and the Greatest Generation would be proud of.