During Memorial Day weekend I watched the last half of the HBO series “Band of Brothers” — the story of Easy Co. of the 101st Airborne Division during and after D-Day — which first aired in 2001. For whatever reason I didn’t watch the series when it first aired. I would like now to have seen the first half.
Although the invasion of Europe by the Allies on June 6, 1944, is rightly a much-heralded day of remembrance the Allied forces had much more heavy lifting to do before their ultimate victory over Germany some 11 months later.
Young people see World War II as ancient history, much as I viewed World War I as a child, but perhaps what makes both conflicts stand out so very much more than other wars before and after is the word “World.” The world at war is a pretty heavy concept. Although coalitions existed in most of the wars the U.S. fought since World War II — some such as in Korea and Vietnam more than others (Iraq) — we’ve not had a global war since WWII. I hope like everything we never see one again.