Why D-Day?

Saturday was June 6th, 2009, the 65th anniversary of the commencement of the Operation Overlord, otherwise known as the D-day landings during WWII. On the first day, at the Normandy Landings, 156,000 allied forces landed in France on a single day. The invasion continued with the eventual liberation of Paris, then advancing eastward into German soil. On May 8th, 1945, Nazi Germany surrendered, marking the Victory in Europe Day in WWII. Our press often dubbed it as the "turning point of the war."

Every year, there is extensive celebration of the day and there has been much press coverage. However a friend asked, why D-day? Why not V-E day? The answer is not about its significance in history, but its significance in politics and id
eology.

The real turning point to WWII in Europe is not June 6th, 1944, but February 2nd, 1943. The day marks the German surrender to the siege of Stalingrad, setting free a million troops and more. Stalin has always wanted his allies to open up a second front, by they delayed for a year. By then, the Soviet army already pushed the Nazi armies away from Russian soil. Eventually, Soviet troops captured Berlin and the European theatre of WWII was brought to an end. One may argue that the glory is more to the soviets than to the "western world."

The glory to the liberation of France however, is to "us." We, the fighters of democracy, liberating people from fascism and tyranny. The notion of those who defeated tyranny being communists is out of place, and it doesn't fit the west's persecution of communism at the time. Although we are through Cold War, and though the democratic capitalists prevail, we still like to view ourselves the good important guys.