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By Rex Bowman
The 2.5 million-member American Legion expressed its displeasure Thursday with the placement of a bust of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, saying the site has the "notorious distinction of probably having the only bust or statue of Stalin in America."
At its annual convention in Milwaukee, roughly 3,000 delegates adopted a resolution telling the National D-Day Memorial Foundation that the bust is inappropriate. The foundation's decision to place the bust at the memorial in June, the legion said, flies "in the face of history which has seen countries tearing down - not erecting - statues of Stalin."
The legion warned that the presence of the bust could dampen visitation to the memorial and curtail the number of people willing to volunteer at the site. About 75,000 people annually visit the cash-strapped memorial.
The legion's decision to weigh in on the issue gives national scope and potentially renewed energy to the protest that flared up this spring. In July, the 59,000-member Virginia chapter of the American Legion came out against the bust, and veterans have picketed the memorial.
The private D-Day foundation maintains that the bust, along with busts of other world leaders from World War II such as Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, is necessary to tell the full story of the June 6, 1944, Allied invasion of Normandy. A plaque attached to the Stalin bust honors "the tens of millions who died under Stalin's rule."
Robin Reed, the foundation's president since late June, declined to comment on the American Legion's criticism. Reed noted, though, that he is nearly finished with a review of the Stalin bust and its future at the memorial.
In its resolution, the American Legion said the bust should go because it can be interpreted as "granting Stalin a place of honor," and "showing insensitivity toward Polish, Czech, and Slovak Allies whose countries were enslaved by Stalin after the war."
Two other organizations also have recently condemned the bust: the Central and East European Coalition, and the North Korea Freedom Coalition.
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American way
American's are glad to take help of the Russians who gave more blood in WWII than any other nation. If it weren't for the russians on the eastern front, the americans and british would have been fighting another couple of years or even lost as the germans were onto the bomb. (we barely got there and got the scientists). Stalin was not a great guy, probably killed more jews than Hitler, but pay him respect where it is due. He was the leader of his people. America needs to face the fact it made a deal with the devil to win the war and now they want to deny it as usual. American committedm many attrocities, worked with some devious characters and then ,as usual, wash their history of the blood so they can delude school children into believing we are so righeous.
The Russians won the war in Europe
75% of all German casualties were inflicted by the Russians. The Russians won the war in Europe. That being said, why not a bust of an ordinary Russian soldier instead of the evil dictator.
Out of place
The bust of Stalin is completely out of place at the memorial. Stalin's fight was on the other side of the continent. The memorial is dedicated to D-Day, the invasion of western Europe, not World War II in general. For those reasons alone, Stalin's bust has no place at Bedford.
Instead of a bust of Stalin,
Instead of a bust of Stalin, perhaps one of General Georgy Zhukov would have been better accepted?
Stalin Bust
I think Stalin led the Rangers at Pointe du Hoc.......No?......hmmmmm, oh, he probably commanded an assault company at Omaha Beach......No?.......maybe he has a bust at Bedford because he sent all those Russian troops across the channel to attack Utah Beach......No?............I GUESS IT REALLY IS A STUPID IDEA TO HAVE HIS BUST AT THE D-DAY MEMORIAL.
and the reason the russians lost 10 million plus
Is because he purged all his pilots,officers,etc that would be a threat to HIM!! He could not even beat Finland.
Breaking News: Some
Breaking News: Some Americans discover history not always whitewashed; Famous historical figures not always black and white heroes and villains.
Just the facts
You can't rewrite history. Fact is that the USSR was allied with the US during WWII. If you make a war memorial and it includes the wartime leaders of that period, I think that you need to include all of the leaders if you want to be accurate. While we had a serious falling out with the USSR and its dictator Joseph Stalin, which led to the Cold War, this occurred after the end of WWII. But I guess we could "airbrush" history and remove his visage from the WWII monument, that would make for better history that is more in tune with our wishes. Humm, some other country was good a presenting history in this light, maybe it could be our role model. A better solution would be to build a new Cold War monument where we could exclude Stalin and include the leaders of that era. As of late we seem to be exceptionally busy building war monuments, no reason not to build a few more.
Wrong place
You make many good points but you forget one thing: the memorial is dedicated to the D-Day invasion, not the entire war. Because of that, Stalin's bust is out of place.
So what's the point
No Soviet forces took part in the D-Day landings or the Battle of Normandy, therefore why stalin?