The Road To Freedom

D-Day was only one of the milestones on the way to political and religious liberty

- Newt Gingrich

WE RIGHTLY CELEBRATED THE 75th anniversary of the landing at Normandy on D-Day—June 6, 1944. It was the largest single operation ever undertaken and involved great complexity in timing between airpower, paratroopers, sea power and massive landings from the English Channel on to the French Coast. I just dedicated a podcast episode to D-Day and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s national prayer, in which he led the entire country into praying for the safety of our young men and women in uniform—and for victory over tyranny.

But there are three other important liberation events worth remembering. The first was the liberation of Rome on June 4, 1944, and the second was the arrival of Pope John Paul II in Warsaw on June 2, 1979. The third happened 10 years after the Pope’s visit: the first free elections in the post-war Soviet bloc on June 4, 1989.

The Allies had fought their way up the Italian peninsula in a difficult and deadly campaign. Italian topography lends itself to defense with many mountains and ridges that can be effectively defended. Even after the Italian government switched sides and worked to help the Allies, the Germans were able to maintain a powerful and clever defense that cost many lives.