A decade ago, The Columbian reported on the D-Day reflections of Vancouver’s Ted Van Arsdol.
“Someone is trying to kill you. It’s a chilling thing when you realize that,” said Van Arsdol, who was a technical sergeant with the 535th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion in 1944.
Reporter Tom Vogt added: “And kill they did. ‘Corpses were lying around,’ Van Arsdol said. Troops tried to dig in along a seawall but couldn’t make much progress in the sand, he said. A medic from another unit walked over and asked if he could borrow a shovel to bury some arms and legs. ‘He said he would return the spade, but he didn’t.’ ”
It is difficult, from a distance of some 5,000 miles and eight decades, to imagine the chaos of the Allied forces’ landing on the beaches of Normandy, France. But it is easy to assess the importance of the event as the world marks today’s 80th anniversary of D-Day, which altered the course of World War II. And it is easy to recognize how international cooperation in defense against tyrants and despots is relevant to today’s world.
D-Day was made up of more than 150,000 stories like Van Arsdol’s. The forces of Nazi Germany had stormed over most of Europe, including France. While the United States was at war with Japan in the Pacific Theater and had fought Axis powers in North Africa, an invasion of northern Europe was necessary for victory against Adolf Hitler’s forces.
Five beaches around Normandy were selected as landing points, with American, British and Canadian forces crossing the English Channel to confront the Germans. More than 20,000 additional troops parachuted into the war zone.
An estimated 29,000 Americans were killed during the invasion; more than 100,000 were wounded or went missing. But the Allies successfully established a foothold in Europe that resulted in Germany’s surrender less than one year later.
According the National World War II Museum: “By the end of June, the Allies had landed more than 850,000 troops, 570,000 tons of supplies, and nearly 150,000 vehicles across the beaches of Normandy. There would be months of hard fighting in Europe before the Nazis finally surrendered in May 1945, but the D-Day invasion gave the Allies the success they needed to initiate the campaigns that would lead to the liberation of occupied Europe.”
Van Arsdol and the 535th Battalion remained at Utah beach for a month, protecting it as additional troops arrived. In the book “Battalion from the Mojave,” he wrote, “They trudged by, thousands after thousands, not a smile in the bunch, wearily, each lost in his own thoughts and weighted down by pack, rifle or bazooka or Browning automatic rifle.”
In short, the D-Day invasion may have been the defining geopolitical event of the 20th century, and it is cause for solemn but celebratory events today. President Joe Biden and other leaders have gathered to mark the 80th anniversary and to reinforce the need for international alliances.
That represents the enduring lesson from D-Day, which led to the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and established a cooperative security that is being threatened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While presidential candidate Donald Trump has said he would tell Russia to “do whatever the hell they want,” Biden has staunchly defended a world order that has protected American interests and prosperity.
That, in truth, is the appropriate manner in which to honor those who stormed the beaches of Normandy 80 years ago today.
