As I write these words, it is June 6, 2025, the 81st anniversary of the execution of the most daring and daunting military feat in human history – the Allied invasion of the Normandy beaches of France, in which the Allies sought to wrench Europe from the powerful grip of the German war machine.
Any student of US military history, including myself, will tell you that the planning, preparation and execution of Operation Overlord – the code name for the Allied invasion – was of such monumental proportions and complexity that it must be considered among the most amazing, focused efforts of human genius and bravery ever realized.
Thousands of men and women were involved in its planning and execution, which involved multiple layers of deception to keep it hidden from Nazi eyes and ears. The physical training of those men who parachuted into southern France, were flown in darkness behind German lines in silent gliders, and who waded ashore to fight the Germans was of such intensity and rigor that few can scarcely imagine today.
And the bravery of these individuals cannot be overstated. Many of the men dropping from the skies behind the Normandy beaches, into places like Sainte-Mere-Eglise, were riddled with bullets by German defenders before their boots hit the ground. Some of the gliders (known among paratroopers as “flying coffins”) carrying a dozen or more troops, jeeps or heavy guns crashed, killing all on board. Men going ashore, particularly at Omaha Beach, but on the other invasion beaches as well, faced a withering storm of lead from German machine gun emplacements as the ramps of their landing craft dropped and they had to run across a half mile of open beach.
That is, if they made it ashore at all. Many men drowned when their landing craft were swamped by seawater in the choppy English Channel. Weighed down by a hundred pounds of gear strapped to their backs, they sank to the seabed with no chance of surfacing. Or they were blown to bits when a German artillery or mortar round found their boat while ploughing its way to shore.
The thing is: These men knew what they were facing when the announcement came that the invasion was a “Go”. Imagine the courage it took to board that plane for the parachute jump into enemy-held territory, to get on that glider, or to embark on that landing craft.
These men all knew they were playing a part in a major event to secure human liberty and Western civilization.
Today, we are facing our own existential crises, and history has placed two extraordinary men at the top of world affairs – Donald Trump and Elon Musk. These men both unquestionably possess unique genius, which has allowed them to achieve the heights of success in a civilization whose existence was ensured by those men who parachuted, glided or waded ashore into the teeth of death 81 years ago today.
Trump and Musk are beneficiaries of the extraordinary sacrifices made by the millions of Americans, British, Canadians, French, Polish, Australians, Czechs and other men and women who fought for our way of life eight decades ago, and in many cases lost their lives in the process. Trump and Musk both used their God-given skill sets, industriousness and vision to take advantage of a Judeo-Christian, free market, (mostly) democratic system to achieve almost limitless financial success. That system was preserved for them by heroes who, in many cases, died in their teens and 20s.
Now we see a sorry spectacle of these two talented individuals, whose political, organizational, and creative gifts working in tandem are now so desperately needed by this country, fighting like high school pals who have had a falling out. Imagine how this childishness would be viewed by the Army Rangers scaling the cliffs at Pointe-du-Hoc with German gunners on top trying shoot them down. Imagine the thoughts of the British infantryman bleeding out on Sword Beach or the Canadian on Juno, having had his legs blown off by a German artillery round. Or the American combat engineer drowning in the waters off Omaha Beach after his landing craft hit a mine and he can’t unburden himself of the gear and munitions assigned to him to do his job.
History has a way of producing certain individuals at certain propitious moments in time with the opportunity to contribute immensely to the continued viability and flourishing of human civilization. Such individuals as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, Winston Churchill – and yes, Donald Trump and Elon Musk. Most of these people felt an inchoate calling or had a preternatural sense that our Creator had plans for them to achieve great things.
It is time for Donald Trump and Elon Musk to reflect on all those who have sacrificed for them, honor that sacrifice, and return to a cooperative relationship focused on restoring American greatness.
William F. Marshall has been an intelligence analyst and investigator in the government, private, and non-profit sectors for 38 years. He is a senior investigator for Judicial Watch, Inc., and has been a contributor to Townhall, American Thinker, Epoch Times, The Federalist, American Greatness, and other publications. His work has been featured on CBS News 48 Hours and NBC News Dateline. (The views expressed are the author’s alone, and not necessarily those of Judicial Watch.)