I wanted to share this story written by an AP reporter named Tara Copp. She wrote an account about her travels to Sainte-Mère-Église, France, with General Mark Milley.
This will give you a window into the character of the man who was tested like no previous American military officer ever had by the commander in chief.
There is an ancient church in the 1,000-year-old Norman village that exploded in sound, fury, violence and mayhem as American paratroopers fell from the sky in the early hours of June 6, 1944. Today, the occasion is marked by an unusual adornment that hangs from the steeple. It is the body of John Steele, an American paratrooper, hanging in harness suspended mid-air, his parachute stuck on the steeple. Steele played dead and survived. The scene is memorably recorded in the John Ford classic “The Longest Day,” with Red Button playing the role of Steele. Another feature of the church is the stained-glass windows that show the American liberators falling from the sky.
This was the first town liberated in France by the American Army. It was a thrill to be able to be there, and see the scene described in the story some years back with my son. I will always count it as one of the extraordinary experiences of my life. Actuaries say that my son, born in 2006, will live to be over 100 years old. That means that in 2106 his birthday will stand 162 years on from that night, and he will be able to tell his grandchildren that he shook the hand of one of those men.
Another way to think about the proximity of events that we regard as ancient history is to understand that, today, we stand just 160 years removed from the battle of Gettysburg.
General Milley said something profound in his retirement ceremony about death. His remarks talked about death and its meaning for an American soldier who is killed in combat. Here is what he said:
The blood we spill pays for our freedom of speech, our right to assemble, our due process, our freedom of press, our right to vote, and all the other rights and privileges that come with being an American.
It is the blood of our fallen, it is the blood of our wounded that sustains our freedom. We should always be inspired by them, we should never forget them, and we should always honor them. We, the American military, never turn our back on those that came before us. And we will never turn our back on the Constitution. That is who we are, and that is why we fight.
Above Omaha Beach is the American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, France. I have written about it before:
It is a stunning place, and there are 9,387 Americans buried there. The graves all face west, towards America, back across the Atlantic Ocean they crossed to never return.
We have no right to strip meaning from their deaths. We have no right at all. They died for our descendants as much as they did for us. This generation of Americans must not yield out of apathy, ignorance and malice to the most malicious threat that the country has faced since the Confederate Army. There is a grand moral proposition at hand and an American military officer laid it out beautifully, bluntly and forcefully.
This story by Tara Copp about General Milley is the antidote to Trumpism. It’s a story about love, loss and an exceptional American leader.
Because of the sacrifice of Americans . . . my mother was liberated from Auschwitz and my father was able to walk out of a Hungarian labor camp. They emigrated to the US were forever grateful to this country and unwaveringly respectful of the our constitution and leadership. Being victims of fascism they would be watching what is playing our in America in abject horror.
I was fortunate to travel to Normandy this past spring and to stand in that very church courtyard. I went to Normandy to honor my father who participated in Operation Overlord. His ship, the USS Corry sank at 0630 that day. I was completely unprepared for the level of emotion I would experience as I looked out over the beaches and read the plaque that indicated where Dad's ship went down. I was also unprepared but touched and humbled at the level of gratitude people expressed for my Father's service all these many years later. He survived D-Day, went on to serve in the Pacific and, incredibly, survived a second sinking. To hear today's GOP disparage our service men and women is more than I can bear. I'm glad he didn't live to witness it.