COBY DILLARD OP-ED: A New Beginning, 65 Years Later

65 years ago tomorrow, 156,000 Allied troops began the liberation of Europe at Normandy. By the end of the day, approximately 10,000 of them would be missing, captured, or killed. Coby Dillard, a black conservative Republican blogger and Navy veteran, writes: "I think it’s interesting that we’ve become so politicized today that we worry more about what we look like on TV and to the world than we do protecting our way of life. When the country was attacked in 1941, politics stopped mattering for a bit, and the country turned its full attention to war. We fought overseas, and those who didn’t fight with weapons fought to make them for our troops. Food and fuel were rationed. Everyone bore the cost of war. Today? Not hardly; the one percent of the nation that’s in uniform - and their families - are the only ones who recognize the true cost of war and what it takes to win one. Most of the country would rather apologize for protecting our interests, like doing so makes us terribly evil."

He continues his commentary: "Since the President’s asking us for a new beginning, here’s my suggestion for one: Let’s all come to the conclusion that there are people in the world who pray for our destruction daily. They’re of different nationalities and religious backgrounds, just as we are here in America. That doesn’t make their countries or choice of religion any more evil than ours; it makes their interpretation of their religion evil. We don’t wage this war - because that’s what it is, regardles[s] of what people want to call it - for oil, land, or material wealth; we fight to preserve, protect, and defend our country and our way of life. Let’s all also share in the sacrifices of our military. Donate money to a veterans support organization. Ask your child to give some of their favorite toys/books to the child of a deployed service member. Find a homeless veteran and take him in for an evening. And pray that God gives our leaders not only the strength to fight this war…but to win it as well."