D-Day

 June 6th isn't celebrated as are some other relevant holidays, such as July 4th, Memorial Day, Veterans Day. Perhaps it should be. D-Day is more than a date in a history book. It is the anniversary of of one of the greatest acts of courage and sacrifice the modern world has ever witnessed. It is a day to pause, reflect and remember, and to honor those who stormed the beaches of Normandy in defense of freedom. 

On June 6th, 1944, more than 150,000 Allied troops crossed the English Channel and landed on the beaches of Normandy. So many thousands would never leave those shores alive. Young men stepped from landing craft into the horror of machine-gun fire, artillery strikes, and seemingly inevitable death. Many drowned before ever reaching the sand. Yet these men pressed forward through literal hell because retreat would have meant the fall of liberty across an entire continent. 

This year, the memory of D-Day coincides with the 250th anniversary of America. This year, in celebrations not only in America, but on the beaches of Normandy itself, the nation will use not only what those young men did, but to also cherish what they preserved. As President Reagan reminded us, freedom is never guaranteed to its inheritors, it must also be defended, protected, and earned. 

Words such as freedom, democracy, and the American way of life are repeated. Now, more than ever, we must reflect on the true meaning of those words. Beneath them lies one of the most precious freedoms of all, religious freedom. The right of every human to seek God without interference of any kind from any government. 

Our founders did not place religious liberty at the head of the Bill of Rights by accident. Thomas Jefferson's Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which predated the Constitution and became part of the foundation of the First Amendment, rested on a profound conviction; that conscience belongs to God, not the state. The Declaration of Independence had already established the principle, that rights come not from governments but from the Creator, and that no government can legitimately take what it did not give. 

The underlying logic was profound: if government can control conscience, no other freedom is secure. Religious freedom is the most fundamental of all rights. If it falls, all other rights follow. 

The men who landed at Normandy knew that they were fighting against a regime that demanded absolute allegiance from not merely the body, but from the soul itself. Nazi Germany sought to dominate every institution that stood above the state, including the church. Religious belief was tolerated so long as it submitted to political authority. Across Europe, totalitarian governments claimed the authority to define truth, morality, and human worth itself. 

D-Day was not merely a military operation. It was part of a broad struggle against governments that believed human dignity and conscience existed only by permission of the state. 

Soldiers went into battle inspired by and motivated by faith. Chaplains moved among the troops going into battle. On the night before the invasion, General Dwight Eisenhower urged Allied troops to recognize that "the hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you." Even General George S. Patton, remembered for his toughness, personal coarseness, and battlefield aggression, understood the spiritual dimension of the war. Before the Battle of the Bulge, Patton prayed not only for good weather but that Allied victory would help restore "peace and religious freedom."

One of the most remarkable and untold stories of World War II is that of the "Four Chaplains." On February 3, 1943, the troop ship SS Dorchester was struck by a torpedo in the North Atlantic. As panic spread, four military chaplains; a Methodist minister, a Reformed Church minister, a Catholic priest, and a Jewish Rabbi gave away their life jackets so others might survive. Witnesses later recalled seeing them arm in arm on the deck of the sinking ship, each praying according to his own faith tradition as the ship disappeared beneath the water.

The freedom that so many died for was neither automatic nor self-sustaining. Every generation inherits liberty, and also inherits the responsibility to preserve it. Those who landed at Normandy and marched into Berlin gave us more than victory, they also handed us stewardship. The fallen gave us the most precious thing they possessed, their lives. And ask only that we prove worthy of their sacrifice. 

On the anniversary of this D-Day, remember what was purchased on those beaches so many years ago: the freedom to speak, to worship, to dissent, and to follow one's conscience. 

For those in other countries, we Americans pray that you can enjoy those same freedoms.