Readers React: It’s a shame that Trump represented the U.S. in Normandy on the 75th anniversary of D-day

To the editor: I happen to have recently watched President Reagan’s speech in 1984 at the site of the D-day landings in Normandy, France. (“Remember D-day, to ensure it’s not needed again,” editorial, June 6)

It is impossible to watch him speak the following words and not flash to the present: “We in America have learned bitter lessons from two world wars: It is better to be here ready to protect the peace, than to take blind shelter across the sea, rushing to respond only after freedom is lost. We’ve learned that isolationism never was and never will be an acceptable response to tyrannical governments with an expansionist intent.”

The juxtaposition to the current officeholder is unavoidable. You watch Reagan representing the stature and dignity of America, then hear President Trump gush how he “fell in love” with the leader of North Korea and realize that he trusts an ex-KGB officer more than the U.S. intelligence community.

For me, this is the measure of how far we’ve fallen. We deserve better.

Alan Shapiro, Pasadena

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To the editor: It is utterly disgraceful that Trump represented the United States at the ceremonies commemorating the 75th anniversary of the D-day invasion.

Trump has sided with dictators. He has said some “very fine people” were among the white supremacists who chanted “Jews will not replace us” in Charlottesville, Va., in August 2017.

If he bothered to look at the sea of marble crosses and stars at the Normandy American cemetery, did he spend even one nanosecond contemplating what these brave American heroes gave their lives for?

Brian Lipson, Beverly Hills

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To the editor: The fact that Memorial Day and the 75th anniversary of D-day were within two weeks of each other brings into focus the sacrifices made for our freedom.

I have no problem with people who burn the American flag or refuse to stand for the national anthem in protest — it is their constitutional right. What I haven’t seen from these people is an expression of gratitude for the thousands and thousands who died to give them that right.

Just a simple “thank you,” by voice or deed, would do. I would rather have a hundred immigrants searching for freedom in my backyard than one citizen who refuses to acknowledge the sacrifices made by their fellow Americans.

Harry Henson, Westlake Village

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To the editor: An article in the Los Angeles Times states that at the American cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer there are “row upon row of graves marked by white crosses.”

When I visited this cemetery, I noticed that there were many graves marked with the Star of David. Jewish soldiers also died on Omaha Beach.

Ann C. Hayman, Westwood

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