War in Europe casts pall over D-Day anniversary

Thursday marks the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the date U.S. and allied forces stormed French beaches in an attack that helped defeat Nazi Germany in World War II.

But commemorations for the event, likely the last major milestone for nearly all who participated in the invasion, come amid the backdrop of another tumultuous war, this time in Europe’s far east between Russia and Ukraine.

The decades-long postwar peace has further been put into question by uncertainty over Washington’s commitment to its European allies, a looming reality should former President Trump win the election in November.  

“We are living in an age right now in which unity amongst Western European states seems to be rather diminished,” said Alan Allport, a professor and historian at Syracuse University.

D-Day, he said, marked an enormously successful example of cooperation between an Allied alliance able to mobilize its own resources to miraculous effect, while also representing American commitment to the defense of Western Europe.

When the war ended, the United States, through the NATO alliance, retained a commitment to the defense of the West, a pledge that so far has survived for 80 years.

“But as we all know, in the last few years there has been some increasing questions about whether that commitment will continue. It is an interesting moment to kind of pause and to reflect upon that,” Allport said.

President Biden, who arrived in France on Wednesday ahead of the commemorations, will seek to assuage fears of the future of the alliance when he attends D-Day celebrations in Normandy, part of a five-day trip to show U.S. commitment.

Biden’s remarks will focus on democracy and freedom and he will meet with American and Allied veterans who participated in the June 6, 1944 invasion.

“President Biden has made revitalizing our relationships a key priority, recognizing of course that we are stronger when we act together and that today’s challenges require global solutions and global responses,” White House national security communications adviser John Kirby said Tuesday.

There are more than 100 events for the veterans linked to D-Day, according to the Pentagon, with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also set to speak as part of the celebrations.

Beginning at dawn on June 6, 1944, more than 150,000 Allied troops landed in Nazi-occupied France, including 73,000 Americans.

Off the coast of Normandy, 4,266 transport vessels and 722 warships protected by more than 10,000 airplanes approached the shore, an air and sea operation code named “Overlord” that was the largest in history.

Around 4,500 Allies died, including more than 2,500 Americans, but the operation allowed the Allies to open a new front in western Europe against Nazi Germany, turning the tide of the war.  

The win was seen as so monumental that for decades afterward, Normandy holds an annual festival of remembrance attended by American veterans who saw the horrors of D-Day first-hand.

“This anniversary is more than just a remembrance for the events at Normandy and recognition of the great human toll this hard-earned victory demanded,” according to Charles Djou, the secretary of the American Battle Monuments Commission, which oversees cemeteries and memorials abroad. 

“It is also a reminder for us — today, in the present — that we as a people, as a nation and a humanity, must always be vigilant in standing up for freedom and against tyranny.”

It’s not known exactly how many D-Day veterans are still alive, but about 150 Americans who took part in the Battle of Normandy, including 24 D-Day veterans, are expected to travel to France this year, NBC News reported.

The number of WWII veterans at this year’s festivities is noteworthy as the figure is far fewer than those attended the 75th commemorations, let alone the earlier ones, with an ever-smaller chance any will make it to the 90th or 100th anniversaries.

The world is now reaching the point “where it’s kind of the twilight of lived experience, where from this point onwards, D-Day is going to be just a historical event that nobody who participates in commemorations had any personal memory of,” Allport told The Hill. 

At the center of the events is a ceremony attended by Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the United Kingdom’s Prince William, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Dozens of lawmakers will also be in Europe for the 80th anniversary, including a Senate delegation of 18 to include Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), and Joe Manchin (I-W.V.).

The group will join U.S. and French leaders and veterans at a ceremony at the American Cemetery of Colleville-sur-Mer before stopping at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. Members will later join heads of state representing Allied partners for an international ceremony at Omaha Beach in Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer. 

A bipartisan delegation of roughly 50 House lawmakers will also be in France Thursday, including House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), and Veterans’ Affairs Committee ranking member Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.).

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) who will also be in Normandy as part of the bipartisan delegation, said in a statement he was “honored to have the opportunity to shake hands with the few remaining heroes, who — like my father — risked everything for our nation and the values for which it stands.”

The UK and Canada, meanwhile, are expected to hold their own ceremonies and events with veterans to commemorate those from their own countries who participated in D-Day – about 60,000 British and 15,000 Canadians, respectively.

One country not invited this year, however, is Russia.

The lack of Moscow’s representation is noteworthy given the Soviet Union’s participation in WWII was intrinsic to the Nazi’s defeat.

The Red Army sacrificed millions of soldiers after Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, pounding Nazi advances and single-handedly securing the Eastern Front.

In earlier commemorations of D-Day, representatives either from the Soviet Union, or after 1991 from Russia, were usually in attendance. 

But due to the Kremlin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 — the largest land war Europe has seen since WWII — Moscow has been a pariah to its European neighbors.

“The Russians are persona non grata now, which is kind of ironic, [given] the success of the cooperation between the Western States and the Soviet Union which helped to make D-Day possible,” Allport said. 

“Of course, that’s something that neither the British or the Americans or the Canadians, or, for that matter, the Russians particularly want to emphasize right now when there’s so much dividing them.”