No one cares this is the anniversary?

When I was growing up I heard a lot of stories from vets who had been in the war but other than my mother & father in law, who are both deceased, can't remember the last time I talked with a WW2 vet-at least one that talked about the war.

Just sitting here for the past 15 minutes or so & reflecting on wars, both past & present, one cannot help but be overwhelmed by the sacrifices made.

I'm not sure why you would think no one cares, the media is absolutely saturated with D-Day tributes and remembrances.

What always impresses me when I hear or see WW2 vets is how they are so self deprecating. They don't consider themselves heroes, they were simply doing what had to be done.

Ever so slightly off topic, the Russians have always had a problems with how Americans are so fixated upon the importance of the Normandy invasion. Stalin had been demanding a second front for years and originally Roosevelt was pushing for a 1942 landing, but Churchill refused his support. Stalin saw this as a anti-communist plot by the imperialist British a view which was given further credence when British and U.S. forces spent much of 1942 in North Africa protecting the Suez Canal and access to India. It was only after the Soviet victories at Stalingrad and Kursk when it became apparent that Germany would be defeated by the Russians that the Normandy invasion became the main British/U.S. focus. As such the opening of the second front wasn't so much to liberate Europe from the Germans as it was to prevent Europe's domination by the Soviets. The Russians have always seen the Normandy invasion as little more than a diversion from their great land war with Germany and they are quick to point out that 93% of German military casualties occurred on the Russian front.

I care. The second world war profoundly effected all those who survived it. Twenty million persons died in a seven year period. Operation Overlord was the beginning of the end and the good guys won.

Life Margazine article (1946): We may have won the war but we are losing the peace in Germany. The German people, who at first regarded us with acceptance, are now downright hostile and hate filled. Some of our soldiers have behaved atrociously toward German citizens and toward some German prisoners of war. We need to know what our exit strategy is now because not only Germans have begun to hate us but many other Europeans are heading down this same road. We need to start doing what is necessary to get out of Europe now and let the international community take over. (Paraphrased)

Also, same crap from some articles in The New York Times in 1945 and 46. Thank God no one in the military listened to them - our presence in Europe stopped the Soviets from turning the entire continent into a cesspool. And the Nazi party has remained irrelevant since. (Unfortunately, their attitude toward Jews has remained well rooted throughout much of Europe, France included as one of the worst offenders.)

Oh yeah, the point? Substitute Iraq for Germany and Iraqi for Germans.

There's absolutely no doubt that the Soviet Union fought with unbelievable tenacity and to great effect.

Unfortunately, Stalin chose to use victory to impose the nightmare that eastern Europe lived through until the fall of communism. The US on the other hand instituted the Marshall plan and facilitated the reconstruction of Europe.

What a contrast!