World War II began because one man’s demented drive to overpower democratic nations brought the despotic governments of Italy and Japan into a military conspiracy to dominate other nations

On this Eightieth Anniversary of the World War II Allied Invasion (D-Day) of Europe many things come to mind.

In 1976, this writer visited the American Cemetery in Luxembourg, where thousands of American soldiers are entombed. Among all the photographs taken during the visit, one of five crosses next to each other of young men who died on the same day, remains indelible in the writer’s memory. They were the crew of a B-25 Mitchell medium bomber that was shot down by German anti-aircraft fire. Among the thousands of Italian Carrara marble crucifixes were many Stars of David marking the final resting places of Jewish GIs, who like their Christian brothers in arms, died to liberate subjugated democracies from despotism.

This seventy-seven-year-old former Air Force Staff Sergeant wants to remind present day Americans, especially those of voting age, that World War II in Europe was started because of one man’s demented drive to overpower democratic nations. He managed to bring the despotic governments of Italy and Japan into a military conspiracy to dominate other nations.

Today the pathologic narcissist American ex-president Donald Trump also wants to impress his personal power over a free people. Veterans, families of veterans, and those whose kinfolk are presently serving in the military must be reminded that this bigoted, selfish, egotistic, adjudicated rapist, and convicted felon has openly called persons who fought and died for our country “suckers” and “losers”; feigning “bone spurs”, avoided the military draft during our country’s war in Vietnam. Now this lying coward wants to lead our government. Sensible and honest Americans know what to do to prevent this insurrectionist would-be tyrant from leading our nation down the same road murderous despots Josef Stalin, Adolf Hitler, and Francisco Franco led 1930s Soviet Union, Germany, and Spain, respectively: dictatorship. The Soviet Union lasted until 1991, and now its present leader, Vladimir Putin lies to his people about returning to the “glorious” days of Russia’s past empire by invading Ukraine and murdering its people. Germany’s Third Reich lasted until its destruction in 1945.

Between 1933 and 1945, both Russia and Germany murdered over 14 million non-combatants, including the 6.5 million Jews of the Holocaust. Spain’s horrendous 1936 – 1939 Civil War, resulted from a military coup that destroyed that nation’s democratically elected Republic, allowing Francisco Franco to rule with an iron fist until 1975.

One enlightening Thursday evening in spring 2017 on a visit to Madrid, Spain, while conversing with four young attorneys at a restaurant, an elderly couple approached us. The gentleman tapped my elbow, saying in Castilian, “I overheard you are from the United States, but you speak our language quite well.” I answered, “Yes sir, I’m from the southern border, right next to Mexico. My four grandparents and my mother were all born in Mexico. None of my grandparents spoke English, so I was fortunate to have been raised in a bilingual environment.” He asked, “Please tell me how in the world you Americans allowed such a horrible person as Donald Trump to become president? Please tell your fellow citizens to be vigilant and take care of your democracy. I believe you know what my country underwent from 1939 to 1975.” He was referring to Generalissimo Franco’s repressive and murderous dictatorship.

In the pursuit of historical information, this writer has traveled to Spain twelve times since retiring in 2013, and visited towns devastated during the 1936-1939 Civil War. He visited mass burial site monuments, results of horrendous atrocities by both the Franquistas and the Republicanos. This author has also read fictional works by Sinclair Lewis (It Can’t Happen Here) and George Orwell (1984), ominous of what could happen to a nation that allows autocratic, Mafia-like, gangsters to run their government. Remaining silent and not voting is complicitous with lying power-hungry demagogues like Trump.

As a fan of world history, this writer does not strictly adhere to philosopher Jorge Santayana’s quip that “Those who are ignorant of history are condemned to repeat it.” History and empires do not occur in cycles, but result from human character, which can be either good or evil and leads to tragedy or creation of a social order where the individual is valued and his or her rights are protected. These include the right to be heard by capable judges, the right to seek asylum from hunger, poverty and violence, the right to a nationality and the freedom to change it, the right to marriage and a family, the right to be considered innocent until proven guilty, the right to own property, the right to social security, the right to participate in government and elections, the right to adequate living standards and health care, freedom from arbitrary arrest and exile, the right to rest and leisure, the right to a fair public hearing, freedom of movement, right to education, freedom from interference with privacy, family, home, and correspondence, freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, the right to social and international order, responsibilities to the community, the right to work and to employment protection, the right to participate in the culture of the community, freedom of opinion and information, freedom from slavery, freedom from torture and degrading treatment, the right to be recognized as a person, the right to equality before the law, the right to life, liberty and personal security, freedom from discrimination, and freedom from interference in these human rights. All of the above are characteristic of a true democracy, but requires constant vigilance by all who deserve the above-mentioned rights and freedoms. It is also a requisite that those citizens must participate to keep these rights and freedoms… by voting.

Laredo has a sluggish reputation of low voter turnout. Webb County, with 144,000-plus registered voters showed a dismal 34 percent voter participation two years ago. Tamaulipas, our neighboring Mexican state, had a 56 percent voter turnout in last week’s presidential elections! Wake up, people. VOTE!