From: Pete & Renee Davis (pandr@metrocast.net)
Date: Wed May 01 2002 - 18:18:40 PDT
Hello TJ,
That was pretty much my first reaction, too.
But then I thought about how it saddens me to hear the latest
development plans
for another US Civil War battlefield. It's hard to say exactly how big a
battle
needs to have been for its location to be a significant site; one worthy
of
remembrance. Washington DC has a cemetery containing the remains of
about 40
Union soldiers killed in attack on one of the city's defensive ring of
fortifications. Given the magnitude of the D Day battle, this site seems
to pale
into insignificance.
But I think this is the key distinction. A cemetery is indeed hallowed
ground.
While the battlefield itself may be historic, it is not truly sacred.
The fort
which was fought over outside of DC is long gone, but the burial place
of the
casualties remains. No pun intended. While developing Omaha Beach would
be
tragic, and offensive to many, it would not be as indecent as the
obliteration
of the cemeteries containing the remains of all who died on either side
in the D
Day campaign. That would be beyond the pale.
But the true, and possibly sad, fact is that France is a sovereign
nation and
will do as it sees fit. By all means anyone who feels compelled to
should do
everything they can to prevent the destruction of Omaha Beach. But
remember that
all those Allied soldiers who fought and died there did so to give the
French
the freedom to decide what to do with that stretch of sand.
I'll climb down off my soap box now.
Pete Davis
Timothy Smith wrote:
> Nigel,
>
> I'm going to stick my neck out here and offer an opinion that might not be
> so popular but one that I believe is spot on.
>
> While I appreciate and fundamentally agree with your feelings about the
> sacred quality of the Normandy beaches, the natural extension of your
> position would be that any piece of France liberated by the loss of allied
> life is sacred and therefore should be left undisturbed...as such, that
> doesn't leave much of France left for the French.
>
> As I recall, the position of the governments who sent their young men to
> fight and perhaps die there was to liberate France (and the rest of occupied
> Europe in the bargain) so that those countries could run things in a manner
> that suited them best without interference from outsiders.
>
> The fact that France is in a position to choose what it best for France is
> the TRUE monument to those young soldiers and the goverments that sent them
> on the great crusade.
>
> ...and some of them were in MV's (mandatory content required).....
>
> TJ
>
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Fri Aug 16 2002 - 11:20:32 PDT