World War II historians understand that all free nations owe their culture and democracy to D-Day, the Allies’ military invasion on the French coast of Normandy which holds a place as one of the most epic victories in history.

With the future of the free world at stake, the battle that helped end the war also stands as a campaign to inspire oppressed people everywhere.

Three years ago, on the 75th anniversary of the invasion, Keith Huxen, then the senior director of research at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, noted that if the Allied landings had failed on June 6, 1944, it would have taken another two years before they could muster the resources to attempt another invasion. By that time, political support in the United States and Britain would have eroded, the Soviet Union would likely have made a separate peace with Nazi Germany, probably forcing the United States and Britain to then make separate deals.

Had Hitler survived and remained in power, democracy would have been completely eliminated across Europe and the Holocaust would have continued until all people Hitler deemed to be racially inferior would have been murdered.

Basically, today’s world would be unrecognizable.

Thanks to the sacrifices of Allied troops over the next 11 months, Western allies defeated the German army, destroying Adolf Hitler’s barbarous Nazi regime.

The Allied losses on June 6, 1944, were heavy; hundreds of Allied soldiers were mowed down by German machine guns before they ever got off the landing boats onto the Normandy beaches. The eight assault divisions in the first wave suffered 12,000 killed, wounded and missing, with Americans accounting for 8,230 of the total.

The Biden administration treated D-Day as an afterthought last week, waiting until 8:45 p.m. to mention anything about the historic 78th anniversary. By the time Biden’s two-sentence tweet was posted, the anniversary was nearly over in the United States and it was already June 7 in France.

Biden’s late response was actually better than in 2021, when he made no comment on D-Day at all.

The president’s late D-Day response did not go unnoticed, triggering a response on social media.

Conservative commentator Greg Price couldn’t understand how Biden’s large social media team could mishandle such a momentous event.

“He has like 70 people who handle his social media and none of them thought to post something about one of the most important days in the history of our country until 8:45 p.m.,” Price tweeted.

Another historian added: “I’m thinking that it’s entirely possible that not one of those 70 actually learned about D-Day. It would detract from woke preening.”

Corey Mills, a battle-hardened veteran with the 82nd Airborne Division with nearly seven years of service in Iraq and two years in Afghanistan, has spent most of his adult life serving an sacrificing our nation. In 2006 he was wounded twice, once with an improvised explosive device and once with an Iranian explosively formed projectile, which resulted in numerous casualties.

A constitutionalist, Mills believes that the sacred oath he took to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic” does not have an expiration date.

He was critical of Biden’s downplaying of the D-Day anniversary and failure to properly honor our fallen heroes in the past, including the 13 who died during the administration’s withdrawal debacle from Afghanistan.

Mills stated that the Biden administration is failing us in every single way, including the mass migration through our southern border.

“Speaking of the 78th anniversary of what I call the Greatest Generation on D-Day, we had 150,000 brave Americans who actually landed on the shores to try and take back and fight against the axis of evil,” Mills said. “That 150,000 was considered to be an invasion. We have (seen) in the last couple of months over 150,000 who have crossed our borders. But the Biden administration still refuses to call that an invasion.”

We stand with Mills and countless other veterans who, unlike the Biden administration, will never forget how we inherited this world and why the Greatest Generation of our lifetimes must always be remembered and respected.

By Jim Zbick | tneditor@tnonline.com

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.