A Call to Action on a Somber VE Day

[Bennet Kelley]

As American blood spilled into the Pacific on that fateful December day in 1941 that pulled the United States into war, Japanese Admiral Yamamoto, who planned the attack, reportedly wrote in his diary, “I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.” The next day, President Roosevelt gave voice to that resolve with a promise that “the American people in their righteous might will win.”

When Germany and Italy declared war against the United States, Roosevelt summoned a nation to respond to an unprecedented “challenge to life, liberty and civilization” to ensure a “victory of justice and of righteousness over the forces of savagery, and barbarism.”
The American people answered that call. A military of under 500,000 in 1940 grew to 12.2 million by 1945, my father among them. Over 400,000 did not return home. At home, people sacrificed with rations and curfews while working in factories to double production. Today we celebrate the 80th anniversary of the victory won by the sacrifice and righteous might of the U.S. and its Allies in defeating Nazi Germany.

My father was a navigator in the Army Air Force and flew 27 missions over Germany in 1945. This year to commemorate the 80th anniversary and to comprehend what my father endured, I have attempted to blog about each mission. One of those missions was over Nuremberg, a Nazi stronghold where Hitler staged his most famous rallies and adopted the first racial laws that treated Jews as an inferior race, stripped them of their citizenship and set Germany on a path that would culminate in the Holocaust.

Nuremberg teaches us that VE Day is not a military victory but the victory “of justice and of righteousness” that Roosevelt sought. The Allies purposefully held its war crimes tribunal in Nuremberg to show the world the barbarism of the Nazi regime and to show the citizens of Nuremberg that Nazism was dead.

In his speech to Congress after Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt pledged that he would “make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.” While Roosevelt did not live to see VE Day, President Truman carried the mantle pledging on VE Day “to build an abiding peace, a peace rooted in justice and in law.” That he did, building an international legal structure that includes the United Nations and NATO which have prevented any further world wars.

At home after the war, the United States addressed its own Nuremberg laws as a result of the civil rights movement while promoting human rights and challenging other repressive regimes abroad. These "ripples of hope” ultimately would help “sweep down” the Berlin Wall and Iron Curtain and restore freedom throughout Europe.

My father was very proud of his service and I often accompanied him when, as head of the local VFW chapter, he laid wreaths for those whose sacrifice helped lift the shroud of bigotry and tyranny that spanned the globe. So today, we celebrate and salute the courage and sacrifice of those who answered the call during Europe’s darkest hour and delivered a victory of justice and righteousness. This year's celebration, however, is a somber one, and not just because so few World War II veterans remain but because what they fought for is in peril.

In Europe, Ukraine's fight against Russian expansionism could bleed into the Baltics or Poland if not checked, while in Germany a far-right racist party espousing Nazi slogans came in second in Parliamentary voting.

At home, the second Trump administration has embraced white Christian nationalism and is dismantling civil rights protections; has pardoned violent extremists; is attacking the press and suppressing speech on campuses; is using the government to punish his enemies; attacking lawyers and judges and undermining the rule of law; while seeking to seize and deport Hispanic and Asian immigrants to gulags in El Salvador and Libya without due process or regards to citizenship status -- and that is just the first 100 days. In addition, President Trump is attacking the institutions and allies that have given us an abiding peace in the West.

To truly honor the sacrifice of the 16 million Americans who served along with our allies, however, we must recognize that the torch the Greatest Generation carried at Normandy and ultimately to Berlin has now passed to us. We must summon the same terrible resolve and courage to fight with righteous might to ensure that the dark cloud of MAGA fascism never takes root at home.