Today we celebrate and mourn. We celebrate the victory the Allies had in taking the beaches of Normandy. We honor and mourn the tens of thousands that died that day. Not much is said for the German soldiers died fighting, but there were no doubt thousands of them as well.
Too many of us don't really know the history of World War II, or World War I or most of the wars before or since. Unfortunately, history teachers get too caught up in dates and names and battles and less in the political plays that led to the war in the first place. WW I, we are taught was triggered because of the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand. Who was he? Where was he from? How did that drag the whole world into war? Surly it's was covered, right? But who really remembers?
We all have heard that history repeats itself. We need to learn from history what happens when a people are lead down certain paths. Learn the tactics that were employed to get them to blindly follow charismatic leaders. Learn from history the cost of fighting for your values and honor of fighting for your country and countrymen. Learn from history, not so much who the heroes were, but what they did and the sacrifices they made.
D-Day was 70 years ago. What is too often lost in the commemorations is why they had to go in the first place. After all, history was just repeating itself.
