ICYMI - Union Leader: Sen. Maggie Hassan: 80 years after D-Day, freedom is still worth fighting for
WASHINGTON – In case you missed it, the Union Leader published an op-ed by U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) about her experience commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy as part of a bipartisan congressional delegation trip. During and after the visit, Senator Hassan emphasized the role that American service members played in defending freedom during World War II and highlighted the importance of continuing to stand up for freedom and democracy at home and abroad.
“During a time when democracy is threatened at home and abroad, it is more important than ever that we remember the lessons that the Americans who stormed the beaches of Normandy taught us: We are capable of extraordinary things, and we all have an obligation to do our part to defend freedom,” wrote Senator Hassan.
“In 2024, it seems as if many of the evils that we confronted in 1944 have reemerged,” continued Senator Hassan. “Autocrats are once again on the march, including Vladimir Putin, with his unprovoked and brutal invasion of Ukraine. Authoritarians in North Korea, Iran, and China are testing our country’s resolve to stand up for our security and our freedom. Antisemitism has reasserted itself both at home and abroad, especially since Hamas’s horrific attack on October 7.”
“Today the question for all of us is how we can do our part — not as Democrats or Republicans, but as the great majority of freedom loving Americans — to stand up for freedom and democracy at home and abroad, and to continue to be willing to defeat tyranny and confront evil,” continued Senator Hassan.
To read Senator Hassan’s op-ed in the Union Leader, click here or see below.
Union Leader: Sen. Maggie Hassan: 80 years after D-Day, freedom is still worth fighting for
By Senator Maggie Hassan
I had the privilege of joining a bipartisan congressional delegation to Normandy, France, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day earlier this month. During a time when democracy is threatened at home and abroad, it is more important than ever that we remember the lessons that the Americans who stormed the beaches of Normandy taught us: We are capable of extraordinary things, and we all have an obligation to do our part to defend freedom.
One of many standout moments in Normandy was visiting the grave of Granite Stater Raymond Cole, who volunteered to serve in the U.S. Rangers, an elite unit. On D-Day, Private Cole and his unit were assigned one of the most dangerous missions — to scale the 100-foot-high cliffs of Pointe Du Hoc and disable a German artillery battery. Using ropes, which became wet during the beach landing, and grappling hooks — and under a constant hail of German machine gunfire — the Rangers scaled the steep cliffs and stormed the German bunkers. Of the 225 Rangers who set out, virtually all were wounded and 77 were killed, including Private Cole.
Forty years later, two veterans who served with Private Cole were visiting his grave in Normandy. They ran into a French woman, Marie, and asked if she would ensure that there would always be flowers left on his grave. She did so for decades, and now her niece, Alice, continues to honor his memory. Alice — and Granite Staters, including students from Alton’s Prospect Mountain High School — have sought to find out everything they can about Private Cole. While there is much that remains unknown about Private Cole, what we do all know is that he was the kind of person who believed that freedom was worth fighting and dying for. Because thousands of other Americans believed that too, they were able to save the world from Hitler’s tyranny.
Hitler did not think much of American soldiers before D-Day. He thought that our GIs — who came from every race, faith, and background — could not possibly defeat his Aryan legions. He regarded Americans as too ethnically diverse, too weak, and too politically divided to defeat him. He was wrong. Anyone who questions American strength and resolve need look no further than the cliffs of Pointe Du Hoc.
D-Day, and ultimately the defeat of Hitler, demonstrated a lesson that my father, a World War II veteran, taught me: Evil cannot be appeased and we all have the capacity — and responsibility — to do our part to defend freedom.
In 2024, it seems as if many of the evils that we confronted in 1944 have reemerged. Autocrats are once again on the march, including Vladimir Putin, with his unprovoked and brutal invasion of Ukraine. Authoritarians in North Korea, Iran, and China are testing our country’s resolve to stand up for our security and our freedom. Antisemitism has reasserted itself both at home and abroad, especially since Hamas’s horrific attack on October 7.
Some political leaders here in the U.S. have called for America to retreat into isolationism and to appease tyrants like Putin. And there has been a concerted effort to overturn and undermine our own free and fair elections.
While some things have changed in America in the 80 years since D-Day, much remains the same. We are still the world’s greatest democracy, full of people who cherish their right to disagree while still sharing the fundamental values that our country seeks to uphold. Meeting the challenges of our moment requires us to summon that same common purpose we had in 1944, that transcended ordinary partisan politics. Surely America’s bravest did not storm the beaches of Normandy to defeat Hitler just to see our country become a place where mobs storm our Capitol and some political leaders appease tyrants like Putin.
This year at Normandy, near the end of one of the ceremonies, an American service member recited the poem “The Watch,” saying “80 years ago, they stood the watch so that we […] can sleep soundly and safely… American World War II veterans, you stand relieved. We have the watch.”
The undaunted courage and unparalleled sacrifice of the Americans who fought on D-Day helped build the world’s greatest democracy. Now, it is the task of Americans today to stand watch — to safeguard the freedoms that our World War II heroes fought for, and that soldiers like Private Cole died for. Today the question for all of us is how we can do our part — not as Democrats or Republicans, but as the great majority of freedom loving Americans — to stand up for freedom and democracy at home and abroad, and to continue to be willing to defeat tyranny and confront evil.
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