The First Week in June - A Look Back

As I write this blog it is June 6, a day whose significance I am afraid many younger Americans have forgotten.  Those of us who grew up in those years immediately following World War II remember June 6 as D-Day.  With your permission I would like to go back in time to two historic events that occurred during this week that changed the course of the world.

Let's begin with June 6, 1944.  For it was on this day that the Allies, under the leadership of General Dwight David Eisenhower, came ashore on the beaches of Normandy, France, and began the process of delivering Europe and the world from Nazi tyranny.  If you have seen the movie, "Saving Private Ryan," you saw Steven Spielberg's graphic description of D-Day.  Thousands of Allied forces gave their lives in those waters as they trudged to those beaches and the surrounding hills.  Yet, as one looks back, D-Day marked the end of Hitler and his tyrannical reign.  Oh the war would continue for  nearly another year and, at times, the Allies would lose some ground but never as much as they would continually gain.  And the war was won.  June 6, 1944, is a date that should never be forgotten by any of us, for that date literally changed the world.  Perhaps it should be required of all American high school students that they view not only those opening moments of "Saving Private Ryan" but also Steven Spielberg's greatest film, "Schindler's List," to understand the reason why it was so imperative that the Allies needed to win.  Let's not forget.  (By the way, there is also that classic movie "The Longest Day" that depicts D-Day in a powerful way.  I would also recommend Michael Shaara's novel, "The Steel Wave.") 

But I also think of another important date, or should I say dates.  Let's move the calendar forward 23 years.  It is now June 5, 1967.  The location is not Europe.  The threat is not Nazism.  The scene has changed to the Middle East, particularly focusing upon Israel.  The threat is pan-Arabism, led by General Gamal Abdel Nassar of Egypt.  During the weeks preceding June 5, Egypt and Syria had prepared themselves for war with Israel.  They boasted with confidence that they would be successful in destroying this tiny Jewish State.  Israel responded with a pre-emptive strike during the early morning hours on June 5, destroying the Egyptian Air Force in a matter of hours.  By June 10, the war was over.  The Egyptians, Syrians, and Jordanians had been sounded defeated in what has become known as The Six Day War.  (By the way, if you want to read a fascinating account of that war, I highly recommend Michael Oren's book, simply titled, "The Six Day War."  Michael Oren is the present Israeli Ambassador to the United States.)  As a result of that war, the map of the Middle East was changed - The Sinai Peninsula was now in Israeli hands (it would be returned by Israel to the Egyptians as a result of the 1979 Camp David Accords); the Golan Heights were captured from the Syrians; the West Bank (Samaria and Judea) was taken from the Jordanians; more importantly, on June 7, Jerusalem became a unified city under Jewish control - the first time since the fall to the Romans in 70 AD.  The consequence of The Six Day War is that the world has used it as a defining moment in the continued dialogue in opposition to a Jewish State. 

Friends, the first week in June has some deep historical roots that should never be forgotten.  Those events have literally changed the course of the world. 

We have so quickly rewritten history to fit our politically correct thinking.  America was no longer founded upon the principals of freedom of religious expression.  Our Founding Fathers were guided by greed rather than freedom; they certainly were not guided by any thoughts of God.  Friends, there are some things that simply should never be forgotten.  The first week of June is one of those times we should never forget.  Our schools are failing in their responsibilities to teach the next generation what it means to be an American citizen.  It is time that Dads and Moms, Grandpas and Grandmas help the next generation know the true story.  If we fail - how will they know?  Perhaps we are already reaping the consequences of such failure.