In the spring of the final year of the First World War Kaiser Wilhelm’s army was making a final push to end the conflict before American troops could arrive in France in great numbers. British and French troops were retreating in disarray. Paris itself was threatened. A war born of ultra-nationalist impulses was seemingly ending badly for the Western democracies.
But while the German offensive seemed unstoppable, a brigade of United States Marines had different ideas. Marching directly into the German strong point at a private hunting preserve just 60 miles from Paris, these Marines made headlong charges into withering gunfire across exposed wheat fields and engaging in hand to hand combat in thickly forested woods often filled with poisoned gas. The battle was brutal, savage, and full of extreme suffering. Still, the Marines persevered; not only stopping the German advance but also perhaps turning Allied retreat into advance and ultimately, on this day 100 years ago, victory.
The Marines of the Belleau Wood paid a horrific price in casualties. Besides the thousands of wounded soldiers, 1,800 young Americans lost their lives in an effort to stop aggression. As in all wars, the survivors paid a price often dealing with what we now know as posttraumatic stress disorder. Theirs’ was a sacrifice that was both honorable and unselfish. As Americans we should be thankful for their sacrifice; they deserve to be remembered.
Fast-forward 100 years later. Today many of the leaders of descendants of the participant nations of the First World War have gathered in France to remember the century-mark of what used to be called Armistice Day, now known in the United States as Veterans Day. As part of the proceedings, a ceremony was held yesterday at the American Cemetery at Aisne Marne, located not far from where many of the Marines killed at Belleau Wood are buried. Present day leaders of the combatants of the First World War made it a point to visit the cemeteries of their nation’s dead who were buried near the battlefields close to or even located at the battlefields in which they fell. One leader, however, did not: President Donald Trump.
The official, but flimsy reason given for not attending was that because of inclement weather he could not helicopter in. Instead he would have had to take a 60-mile motorcade to the battlefield and cemetery. The entire trip would have taken slightly over one hour even in the rainy weather of the day. Still, the President could not be bothered. This inconvenience relatively minor and insignificant compared to the horrible conditions in which those Marines struggled, suffered and often died.
This is a rather odd response from a president who loves to tout his admiration for the American military. But upon closer inspection, it is an admiration that focuses more upon the braggadocio of victory without acknowledging the sorrow and pain of the everyday soldier, sailor, airman or Marine who put their bodies into harm’s way every time they go into battle. As the philosopher Erasmus once noted, “War is delightful to those who have had no experience of it.”
Perhaps, with an eye toward President Trump’s snub of the Marine dead, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaking at a similar ceremony honoring fallen Canadians of that conflict noted, “As we sit here in the rain, thinking how uncomfortable we must be these minutes as our suits get wet, and our hair gets wet…It’s all the more fitting that we remember on that day in Dieppe, the rain wasn’t rain. It was bullets.” Winston Churchill’s grandson was even more direct on the president’s nonappearance, commenting in a tweet, “They [The Marines] died with their face to the foe and that pathetic inadequate @realDonaldTrump couldn’t even defy the weather to pay his respects to The Fallen,” further saying that the current president is “not fit to represent this great country.”
Yet, there may be an even greater significance in President Trump’s actions. It is a good metaphor of his ignorance towards the interconnectedness of the modern world. His non-appearance was more than a failure to honor the fallen but in a greater sense to dishonor the ultimate cause for which they sacrificed. Just as Lincoln elevated the Union cause in the American Civil War at Gettysburg, Woodrow Wilson attempted to elevate the Allied cause through his famous Fourteen Points. With America’s entry into the war he saw the conflict as a chance to advance self-determination and democracy. More importantly, Wilson was one of the first leaders (and perhaps despite many of his own personal failings) who understood the danger that nationalism presented in a world containing great armies and increasingly highly technical weapons.
As history has explained, Wilson’s Fourteen Points was not enough to quench the thirst of vengeance among the Allies – particularly in France. The American President could not even induce American involvement in his well-envisioned League of Nations. But others in a future time would breath new life into the Wilsonian dream of a great international body. During World War Two President Franklin Roosevelt defined the Allied cause against fascism as the United Nations. FDR’s term would then be applied to that great organization formed in the closing days of that conflict. Every president from FDR through Barack Obama understood the need for international organizations such as the United Nations and NATO. What all these presidents did was help establish an international climate of cooperation that successfully muted the pernicious impulse of nationalism.
Over the last few months I have been continually watching the films Dunkirk and Darkest Hour. The former is the story behind the actual evacuation of British troops driven from France in the early days of The Second World War. The latter film is the story of Churchill’s rise to power in the midst of the same crisis. Both films are stories of standing up to the nationalist tyranny of fascism, even when the odds for victory are least likely. Both films end by citing Churchill’s famous “Never Surrender” speech given directly before the Battle of Britain.
The essence of that speech should not be lost upon us as it still contains an important message in today’s United States. In that defiant statement Churchill exhorted the British people and her allies to stand up to Nazi aggression until, “In God’s good time the new world with all its power and might will step forth to the liberation and rescue of the old.”
That is still a valid plea in this world. But now there is a caveat: because of President Trump’s embrace of nationalism the new world must first rescue itself. Nationalism is not patriotism. It is not love of country but instead, the unjustified supremacy of one’s country at the expense of others. It is this toxic worldview that fed the soul of fascism among the Axis powers in the 1930s and 1940s; that still feeds neo-fascists in Putin’s Russia and other European right-wing movements. And it was this very nationalist impulse that led to the events of Sarajevo on June 28, 1914 that propelled humanity into The First World War. If the United States chooses to embrace the president’s nationalistic vision we now know from the past things will only end badly.
Americans must understand these important lessons of history. In doing so, as a people we must act to cleanse ourselves from the nationalist impulse. We do this by checking this president’s abuses of power by every legal means possible. We demand that he not lead our nation into calamity by embracing another fallacious America First movement. And ultimately, as a people we defeat him in his re-election bid. Only then will our country be ready to step forth and lead the battle against a re-emerging fascist nationalism that seems to be sweeping Europe. Only then can the United States be able to step forth to again come to the liberation and rescue of the old world. It must be done.
This is the very least we can do to honor the Marines who laid down their lives 100 years ago at Belleau Wood.