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I don’t really agree. I think the day did save most of Western Europe from the Nazis. And as an American, I thank God for the Soviet meat grinder on the Eastern Front so fewer boys from Kentucky, Colorado, New York and Tennessee died. We lost enough as it is. Far too many Americans have zero appreciation for the size of the Soviet effort, and the weight they brought to the fight. But it would be absolutely blindingly ignorant to believe that D-Day and the battle in Western Europe was less than absolutely crucial to the Nazi defeat.

That mentality reminds me of the people who claim that the 8th AF bombing had no serious effect on Germany.

>>Far too many Americans have zero appreciation for the size of the Soviet effort, and the weight they brought to the fight.

Thank a teacher. Or really, the quasi-monopoly government school system.

[Far too many Americans have zero appreciation for the size of the Soviet effort, and the weight they brought to the fight. ]

It’s perfectly reasonable, because Americans also have zero appreciation for the fact that WWII might not have been necessary without the Nazi-Soviet alliance. Without an alliance with Stalin that gave Germany the freedom to concentrate its forces in the West, Hitler would likely not have mounted an invasion of France. The problem is that liberals tend to portray the Soviet war effort as this great and generous gift to mankind in general, when the Soviets were in fact quite literally fighting to avoid being killed to the last man, woman and child, and collaborated with the Nazis until the Nazis reached the Atlantic and decided to try to reach the Pacific at Soviet expense. Basically, the Soviets and Nazis were two packs of wolves that turned on one another.

What I find amusing is that prior to WWII, Western Europe tried its hand at being Switzerland once and failed. In the postwar period, it is having another go at being Switzerland. In time, the US will get tired of paying for Europe’s defense, and the Russians will get frisky again. Or the threat could come from a completely different direction. The common thread is that Europe will once again get caught with its pants down.