slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

On D-Day anniversary, ‘America First’ doesn’t sit well on the beaches of Normandy

U.S. army veteran Onofrio Zicari, 96, visited the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, near Omaha Beach, 75 years after he participated in the D-Day operations on June 6, 1944.

COLLEVILLE-SUR-MER, FRANCE— Onofrio Zicari had never been able to bring himself to return to the beaches of Normandy.

But this year, at 96, the retired Los Angeles milkman decided he had to come back to the place seared into his memory from the morning of June 6, 1944, when he stormed Omaha Beach in the fifth wave of incoming soldiers on D-Day. He flew from his home in Las Vegas to northern France — nearly 5,300 miles — to find one particular white cross in the American cemetery.

Donald E. Simmons was the last one out of the landing craft that morning, as Zicari and the others made their way across the water and through an onslaught of German gunfire from the ridge in the distance. Simmons was k**led almost instantly, Zicari said, his hand on his friend’s grave. “He was my buddy.”

At 21 and 20, Zicari and Simmons were still boys on D-Day. They would have had a hard time imagining 75 years later. Only one of those boys lived to see the end of the war, the rites of marriage and fatherhood, the grandeur of what was called the American century.

Hovering above a foreign shoreline, the cemetery presents a particular image of the United States abroad. This is a memorial to a proudly internationalist society that — to quote the inscription on the memorial chapel here — sacrificed its sons “for the common cause of humanity.” But, 75 years later, America’s role on the world stage no longer seems as certain. The future of the postwar order won in battles like D-Day is anyone’s guess.

President Trump campaigned — and won — on the creed of “America First,” a catchphrase that evokes an America entirely foreign on the beaches of Normandy and that, in any case, Zicari was uninterested in discussing. “I don’t like to get into politics,” he said.

When asked why he came back, he said: “So the nightmares would stop.”

For p**********l historian Jon Meacham, D-Day is a symbol whose meaning has changed with the times — in the mid-1960s, it was a Cold War rallying cry; in the mid-1980s, an underpinning in Ronald Reagan’s call for American restoration.

This was the essence of Reagan’s iconic 1984 “Boys of Pointe du Hoc” speech (credited to speechwriter Peggy Noonan). “And I tell you, we are ready to seize that beachhead,” Reagan said.

In 2019, Meacham noted, the beaches of Normandy have yet another meaning.

“This year, I think many Americans who are likely to be sentimental about the story of Operation Overlord are also likely to be supporting a president whose instincts are isolationist, not interventionist, and who takes a dim view of the postwar order that more or less kept the peace for more than half a century,” he said.

“These beaches teach us the steep toll of isolation and America First — and should be perennial reminders that we cannot escape history.”

Pierre Vimont, a former ambassador to the United States, said the isolationist rhetoric emanating from the White House does not accurately reflect the status of the t***satlantic relationship enshrined in Normandy.

“Despite the sometimes spectacular declarations, the foundations of this relationship remain solid,” Vimont said. “There is a reality of cooperation and t***satlantic relations that remains very strong.”

But other European observers point to genuine t***satlantic divergences that transcend, and even pre-date, the theatrics of Trump’s Twitter account: the U.S. “pivot to Asia,” the feeling that Europe should shoulder more of its own defense burden, the list goes on.

“Nostalgia can’t guide us,” said Benjamin Haddad, a French political scientist and head of the Atlantic Council’s Future Europe Initiative.

“The very fact that we have peaceful, stable democracies in Europe despite the challenges they faced is an incredible testimony of American success, but this is also why Europe will be less central to America in the 21st century than it was in the 20th, and we should celebrate that,” Haddad said.

“The question is how do we still keep a positive agenda, still understand that our bonds are stronger than what divides us, but at the same time not be in denial about the very real disagreements we have,” he said.

To wander the pathways of the manicured cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer — with 9,388 white crosses and Stars of David extending as far as the eye can see — is to contemplate the cruel specter of the what-might-have-been. The things undone, the lives unlived.

Zicari made clear everyone who experienced D-Day left something on these beaches, even those who survived. In coming back, he said he hoped for only one thing.

“I’m 96 years old. And my kids said, ‘Go ahead, Dad. You’ll have your closure.’ ”

Canuckus Deploracus Loc: North of the wall

Brave men who are owed our love and gratitude...
May the Lord grant them eternal glory for their sacrifice...Amen...


Times are changing...

I.R. Wayright

"the U.S. “pivot to Asia,” the feeling that Europe should shoulder more of its own defense burden, the list goes on. "
Pivot to Asia? Yes, emerging markets back 2 to 3 decades ago.
Defense burden? Reread your NATO agreement. You are to contribute 5% of your GDP to your defense so you can pull your own weight. We have picked up the slack for far too long and are mightily in debt.

Coos Bay Tom Loc: coos bay oregon

My Grandfather was with the Canadians who stormed the beaches. He saw landing crafts full of men blown to bits and men being mowed down like grass as soon as they hit the beach. He saw thousands of men die that day including men on the landing craft he was on.. The Canadians were sacrificed and their sacrifice made the Americans successful in their invasion.

Coos Bay Tom Loc: coos bay oregon

Canuckus Deploracus Loc: North of the wall

Thanks for remembering

Coos Bay Tom Loc: coos bay oregon

I am proud of my Canadian heritage. Proud of my heroic grandfather. He was a French speaking radioman and telegrapher. A target who never returned from the war for three years. He sure had a lot of medals.

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

We are still sending children to war, expecting them to sacrifice their lives, blood and body parts on our behalf. The Nation they sacrifice so much for, expects them to do so without complaint, and who might remember them a couple of times a year, for a few minutes.

Every single war Veteran I've ever spoken to has insisted that the true heroes never made it home, the majority of whom were awarded a white cross or star of David for their sacrifice. The unfortunate t***h about this "grateful Nation" is; we'd prefer those who survive to remain silent and get on with their lives like nothing ever happened.

WWII happened because too many people took their freedoms for granted, forgetting the lessons of previous conflicts. Nationalism, populism, isolationism, greed and avarice lead to two world wars. Instead of learning from the mistakes of the past, we seem bent on repeating them.

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

Sad, but all too true, Doc.

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

Kudos to your grandfather, Tom But, I am proud of you as an American.

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

"The Times They Are A-Changin'"

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'

Bob Dylan

lindajoy Loc: right here with you....

It was an amazing day of remembrance paying tribute to such fine hero’s...
Another time with such history!!!🇺🇸

I loved seeing the gentlemen jump from plane and can jot imagine what it meant for he and all who lived such a life then and now because of it..

God Bless them all!!!❤️

Rose42

Can't add anything to that.

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

The opening D-Day landing re-creation scene from 'Saving Private Ryan' was jolting, and should serve as a sobering reminder as to the price of freedom.

My Dad survived USMC beach landings at Guadalcanal, The Solomon Islands, Saipan, Tinian, Tarawa & Okinawa...all as a teenager.

Coos Bay Tom Loc: coos bay oregon

My Granpa Gauthier was a great man who became a proud American citizen. Later he was the Umpire at my little league games. He was a r**t.--The fans came to watch him as much as the games lol.