Mulberries and White Crosses

60 Years On

"On the 50th anniversary of D-Day I thought 'well, it's a pretty amazing anniversary, let them celebrate.' The Germans weren't invited, but some of us went anyway, in small groups, some invited by the French. But now, after 60 years, I don't understand why they are making such a fuss. I don't think humankind has learned anything.

There have been so many wars since then, Iraq for example, and I think the media should concern themselves more with that.

The veterans from back then will soon all be dead, and now you've got the chancellor going there, probably saying clever things into a microphone, and I think: what's he got to do with it all? He's got no idea what that war was like. Well, that's the way I see things now. "

Werner Kortenhaus

Comments

[Chris McEvoy]

From D-Day OD

"The romance with World War II grunts and their courage on the beaches of France reflects more than a due regard for the feats of a dying generation. It represents a change of heart among their baby-boom children, who since entering middle age have sought to atone for the stern rejection of militaristic values and the insufficient appreciation of their fathers' heroism that they displayed when coming of age during Vietnam. But at a time when the culture's celebration of the martial has reached levels not seen since after the Civil War, a countervailing gust of Vietnam-era dissent would feel like a fresh summer wind."