I'm not a French citizen, however my maternal Grandmother (LeMae) was, so I
have somewhat of a respectful bias by heritage and I hope you take this into
account when I say:
Normandy should be a nationally protected site. It shouldn't even be the
subject of debate, it is so obvious! This is the scene of the single most
important turning point for modern human history, where right defeated wrong.
Where a nation and a continent was saved from tyranny. It was an immensely
noble sacrifice on a scale never before seen. So many loyal friends coming
to the rescue of France in her darkest hour. Viva la France came from the
lips of a lot of people who didn't speak French on that fateful day!
Once France had been taken back from the Nazis at a great cost, the surviving
heroes moved on to restore freedom and the sovereignty of many nations
throughout Europe. Which makes Normandy so incredibly valuable as hallowed
ground, not just for the French, but for all of Europe and the world. A
great lesson was learned there for us and all future generations, therefore
it is not only worthy of consecrating, it is essential.
In contrast, our WWII enemy, the soldiers/sailors of Imperial Japan died
trapped in troop ships in several remote lagoons in the Pacific Islands
before they could disembark. Japan asked the world to respect their dead by
making such places off limits to souvenir hunters. The world complied
without rebuttal, even though Japan was the aggressor and waged war on the
very people it petitioned for help. In contrast the graveyard of one of the
most grand, idealistic, selfless gestures in the history of mankind is
pillaged for profit by the very citizens of the nation they saved.
However, in the consideration of how this nation behaved towards it's
colonies, such as Vietnam, the situation at Normandy was almost predictable.
The 1930s, 40s and 50's exploitation of Vietnam by the French rubber barons,
the terrible rice famines it ruthlessly manipulated and the wealth it removed
from the local citizens predictably created Dien Ben Phu and therefore I
suppose the looting of Normandy was just a predictable now. Sometimes to be
French is like a national arrogance that sees only what it wants to see. And
it wholely fits that some French citizens would now blame others for their
colonial catastrophe in Vietnam (Dien Ben Phu) and it's denial of decent
treatment for a Normandy graveyard.
While I'm at at it, another fact the French character must come to grips with
is their degree of cooperation / complicity with Germany after the fall of
the French government and the installment of the Vishy government. In WWII
England nearly fell too, but I could not imagine one English soldier or
sailor turning her guns against America and the allies, nor any sort of a
collaborative Nazi-English puppet government having the slightest bit of
success. This is absolutely beyond preposterous. Can you imagine a British
warship with a British crew firing on WWII Americans because the Nazis order
it? Absolutely inconceivable!
These are points I would gladly let slide into oblivion if it were not for
those French citizens that frequently insist on making them an issue when it
is entirely in their best interests to not do so!
Jack Lee
PS It's just a dang good thing Gram was French or I would have really let ya
have it! lol
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Jul 05 2001 - 00:40:35 PDT