Mr. Trump doesn’t know something about war heroes. A cemetery in Margraten, Netherlands, is proof. It is an undulating blanket of grass with over 8200 crosses and stars of David in lines at military attention. These were the American GIs who fought Nazis and died to free Northern Europe in World War II. About 170 of them were Black men.
Last week a news story came to light. Memorial panels at Margraten’s Netherlands American Visitor Center were taken down months ago and replaced. The reason? Internal emails revealed the American officials in charge were eager to comply with the President’s` Executive Order that said no DEI, no Woke materials. The panels removed were the stories of Black American soldiers. White GI stories replaced them.
What Mr. Trump apparently does not know is what ordinary Europeans saw living daily life with our soldiers during WWII. Their great-grandfather generation passed two kinds of stories down to today’s generations. In one, they were forever grateful for Americans’ bravery and sacrifices. In the other they told tales of dishonorable behaviors by White US soldiers: how they denigrated their own Black comrades; called them woefully un-evolved, and said they had tails like chimpanzees.
If Mr. Trump knew these stories, he would know why the people of Margraten are loudly objecting to the removal of those memorial panels. He is painting the US with shame instead of heroism. He is persuading Netherlanders that America has not changed since the 1940’s. Since they are objecting, perhaps they know us better than we know ourselves.
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