Remembering D-Day
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- I am watching the moving tribute to the soldiers of D-Day and I have two thoughts in addition to the wonder and gratitude for 
these soldiers of the Greatest Generation. First, it seems so very wrong not to have the Queen be a part of these ceremonies. Perhaps these youngish men and women Presidents and Prime Ministers knew that the Queen would have upstaged all of them as the only one who actually remembered WWII. Nonetheless, she should have been included.
My second thought is that I can’t help but wonder what the average young French and German is thinking today. To put it into perspective, when you were a teen or young adult, what was happening 65 years earlier and did it really matter to you? For example, I was 20 years old in 1978. So 65 years before that would have been 1913. When I was 20 I thought WWI was ancient history and I am sorry to say that I know very little about the battles and generals and even all of the countries involved. Yet WWI to me, is the equivilant of WWII to today’s 20 year olds.
So I can’t help but wonder if the French youth really care about D-Day much less are filled with the same gratitude of their parents or grandparents who had lived in an occupied France. And what must the young Germans be thinking today? I bet there are a lot of young French and Germans who are thinking that this is ancient history and to get over it already. That it is 
demeaning to their country to be constantly reminded of the roles of their nations in WWII. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are tired of being told that they should be grateful to America, England and Canada who were responsible for saving their countries. I can’t find it but I recall a quote that basically says if people are forced to continuously be grateful to someone they will eventually turn on that person. Yes, we need to hold these ceremonies honoring the soldiers of D-Day and all the men and women serving in WWII. But we also should understand if the young French and Germans either no longer care or feel anger towards the US and not gratitude.
Comment by Richard on 6 June 2009:
PC: I agree with your thought about the Queen. The Brits gave as much or more than anyone during World War II. I met a tommy who laughed that as he stepped onto the landing barge ramp and sheel tore his leg off. He joked he didn’t even get wet on D-Day except fopr hbis leg that he never saw again.