Declaration of War: an Anniversary

Today is the 74th anniversary of D-Day, when more than 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified beaches of Normandy, France. This successful invasion of occupied France was the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany and its allies. We should honor all those brave men with prayers, thanking God for blessing them with the sacrificial courage they demonstrated on those beaches, especially those who sacrificed their lives so we could live in freedom today. Only a small remnant are still alive today.

D-Day at Normandy

On the Beach D-Day

But there's another little-known anniversary that was marked this week, one I believe is particularly relevant. June 4 was the 76th anniversary of the last time the Congress of the United States declared war. On June 4, 1942 the USA declared war on three nations: Hungary, Bulgaria and Rumania. At the time all three were puppet states, allies of Nazi Germany. We had already declared war on Japan (December 8, 1941) and on Germany and Italy (December 11, 1941). Prior to these six declarations during World War Two, Congress had declared war only five times: with Great Britain (1812); with Mexico (1846); with Spain (1898); with Germany (1917); and with Austria-Hungary (1917). Despite all the conflicts in which we have engaged since that declaration of war 76 years ago, Congress has not declared a state of war with any nation. 

Korean "Police Action"

There was no declaration of war with communist North Korea -- or their communist allies, the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union -- even though well over a million Americans took part in the conflict (1950-1953) resulting in nearly 150,000 killed or wounded. The Chinese communists actually fought alongside the North Koreans and the Soviet Union provided arms, training and air support to our enemy. President Truman called the conflict a "police action" under the auspices of the United Nations. And despite the fact that his stated objective was to free North Korea from communist rule, this was never achieved and today we are living with the results of that failure. No peace treaty was ever signed and the Koreas -- North and South -- have lived under a mere "cease fire" for the past 65 years. Thanks to President Trump, this may change. I encourage you to pray for peace on the Korean peninsula. Pray that the Holy Spirit enter the hearts of all who will take part in next week's summit and bring about a long-term solution.

President Donald Trump and Kim Jong In

Neither did we declare a state of war with North Vietnam, in a conflict that involved Americans for over 20 years, from 1954 to 1975. Vietnam was another conflict with ill-defined objectives and predictable results. Ostensibly we were involved to ensure the freedom of the Vietnamese people and yet the conflict ended with the communists overrunning the entire country. This was an American political failure, resulting from gross political weakness and a failure of leadership. It resulted in a strategic military failure despite the steady stream of tactical military successes by American troops. Of the more than 2.5 million Americans who served in Vietnam during the long conflict, over 10% of them were killed (58,169) or wounded (310,000). Vietnam, of course, remains a "conflict" since Congress never issued a formal declaration of war. Personally, I have always considered my involvement in the Vietnam conflict (I was a Navy helicopter pilot) as a particularly honorable part of my life. 

Vietnam: Helicopters Rule

Since then the United States has been involved in many other conflicts, including the so-called "Gulf War" (1990-91), our response to Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait. After the terrorist attack on the United States of September 11, 2001, we engaged in additional long-term conflicts in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Despite the wishes and delusions of many of our politicians, we remain involved in both of these conflicts along with several others spawned by our half-hearted "war on terror." Given what has been happening in the world, no one can honestly declare that we have won or are winning this pseudo war. 

Given all this I suppose one can make a reasonably good case for saying we have not won a major conflict since Word War Two, the last time the United States Congress declared the nation to be at war with an enemy. Would it make a difference if Congress actually declared war on all forms of Islamist Jihadism, on all groups or nations that use terrorism or support terrorists? A declaration of war gives the president very broad legal authority. He can stop the export of any products, even agricultural products; he can take complete control of the nation's transportation systems; and he can direct manufacturing plants to produce weapons and seize those that refuse. Such a declaration also makes anyone who supports the enemy an enemy agent and liable for prosecution. These are certainly substantial powers, but there is much legal precedent for granting the president such extensive powers during wartime.

The first problem is that a declaration of war presumes that the government intends to win the war, thus creating high expectations on the part of the electorate. Only Congress can declare war, but that means our senators and representatives must live with their decision and its results. And make no mistake, members of Congress prefer not to take responsibility for anything that might threaten their reelection. Without a declaration, failure can more easily be rationalized or simply ignored. 

The second, and perhaps greater, problem is that a declaration of war demands that Congress identify the enemy. One cannot officially declare a "war on terror" because such a declaration identifies no enemy entity. Terror is a tactic not an enemy. The real enemy is that segment of Islam that desires to destroy Western Civilization. Until our government and the people who put them in power can accept and declare this, we will continue as we have since Word War Two.

D-Day, 70 Years

In September I'll celebrate (very quietly, I hope) my 70th birthday. This is an undeniable fact that I seem to have trouble accepting. Turning 30 didn't bother me, neither did 40 or 50 or 60. There's something about 70, though -- three score and ten, the natural allotment of years, after which we have no guarantee -- that has made me pause and realize this life is definitely coming to an end. It's not that I worry about aging or fear death, because I don't. Both aging and death are natural elements of life itself. I accept them. No, I'm simply surprised that my life has reached this point so quickly. But time doesn't pause; it moves right along.

This came to mind today as I watched some of the news coverage about the 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion at Normandy. For the first time I realized that perhaps a majority of Americans know little, if anything, about the events we're celebrating. When I was a child, World War II was not the distant memory it is today. After all, I was born during the war. And most of the men I knew -- neighbors, local businessmen, relatives, scout leaders, and, yes, my father -- had served during the war and many told me of their experiences which ran the gamut from the mundane to the heroic. They were normal men, just average American guys, who were called into service, responded willingly, did their duty and much more, and then returned to their civilian lives thankful they had survived the war. The survivors didn't consider themselves heroes; that was an honor they bestowed on those who never returned. If anything they experienced a sense of guilt that they had survived while so many good men had died.

The point or all this? I was too young to recall the war years, and yet World War II was a definite presence during my childhood. As a child I listened to the adult conversations around me, and much of what I heard was about the war. It was what people talked about, and it was fascinating. And then, when I was only seven, my family spent a year in Germany and I saw first-hand the destruction that country had brought on itself. The scars left by the bombing were still visible in many of the cities, and when I walked through the gate at Dachau I could sense the evil that spawned the horrors of that camp.

Berlin 1945: Photo taken by my father

The Gate at Dachau

The men who landed on those Normandy beaches on D-Day began the long process that would take the ground war to Germany itself and ultimately bring an end to all the destruction, all the horror. Far too many of them, especially the young Americans who landed on Omaha and Utah Beaches, sacrificed their lives that day. But their deaths were not in vain because enough of their buddies made it across that beach and many other beaches across the globe, and eventually drove our enemies to surrender.

D-Day: Seawall at Utah Beach

Although I was born three months after D-Day, it remains for me a day to remember. Teach your children and grandchildren about that sad and glorious day so they, too, will always remember.

Pray daily for those who put their lives on the line in defense of our country, in defense of freedom, in defense of you. And pray for peace.

Greater love...

A long day today -- Saturday, June 6 -- but certainly not the "Longest Day" of the sort experienced by another generation of Americans 65 years ago when they found themselves scrambling up the beaches of Normandy under heavy fire on D-Day. We owe these men --- many of them forever young in their graves -- and the others who stormed the beaches of the Pacific, North Africa, Sicily and Italy, a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. The best we can do is to remember them and their heroism.


I suppose that for most of us, history, and in particular recent history, is essentially personal. We automatically make mental connections between the events of history and the people who took part in them, especially when those people also entered into our lives. My father, who died a few years ago at the age of 95, was a veteran of the war in Europe and, although he didn't take part in D-Day, he did play a role in that horrible war. Perhaps more importantly, John McCarthy played a very active part in the restoration of postwar Europe, especially in the rebuilding of a free Germany. Whenever I see or hear anything about that devastating war, I reflexively think of him. Just as when I encounter anything about the Boxer Rebellion or the Spanish American War I can't help but think of my grandfather, another John McCarthy, who served in both conflicts. In the same way, as a veteran of the war in Vietnam, I cannot think of that conflict without also calling to mind the many friends who died there.

A few moments ago I heard a news report stating that almost 900 WW2 veterans die each day. This great generation of selfless heroes is disappearing before our eyes, and as they leave us their grandchildren and great-grandchildren are instead focused on the latest iPhone release or ranting about the results of the American Idol vote. Given the state of our educational system, I suspect many of these young people don't know why or who we fought in World War II.

If we know nothing of the totalitarian regimes of the past, it's unlikely we'll be able to recognize those we must confront today or will face in the future. Unless we learn to act like grown-ups, unless we grow up just as those young men on the beaches had to grow up, unless we change, and change quickly, I'm afraid we are doomed to join the countless other nations that make up the debris of history.

Blessings.