Blog 3141 – 06.06.2026

A Big Day For Democracy

On this date, June 6, 1944, the Allies launched the largest amphibious assault ever on the beaches of Normandy to free France and the rest of Europe from Hitler’s occupation forces. The fascism regime of dictator Mussolini had already been defeated in Italy.

After World War 1 a national populist isolationist sentiment developed in the United States called “The America First Movement.” It was championed by famed flyer Charles Lindbergh and automobile tycoon Henry Ford among others. Even our first President George Washington had warned us about becoming entangled in foreign wars.

Our country had reluctantly entered into the First World War. Had we not, there might never have needed to be a Third Reich as Germany may have already ruled the world. Kaiser Wilhelm was a dictator and dictator’s always want to rule the world. History records their names and the trails of brutality and blood they have left in their wake.

Democracies are messy and imperfect, but they offer the most opportunities for liberty, freedom, and prosperity. One of America’s greatest Presidents, Abraham Lincoln, wrote in a brief address at the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial dedication that “the world will neither note nor long remember the words we say here, but it can never forget what they did here…we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God – shall have new birth of freedom – and that the government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Today we honor those who fought and died for democracy not just for us, but for all people everywhere longing to be free of dictatorial regimes. The great American experiment never intended the term “America First” to mean “Just us, to hell with everybody else” but for this great experiment to shine like a city on a hill or a lady holding high her lamp of liberty for others to see their way clear of dictators.

These are dangerous times for democracy. Dictators, the rich and powerful few, fear the people and want to rule over them, always putting their own self interest first.

Your friend and fellow traveler,

David White