V-E Day: Victory in Europe for the American Soldier

Today, May 8, is the anniversary of V-E or Victory in Europe Day. On this day in 1945, America and its Allies celebrated the defeat of the Nazis and the end of the bloody war in Europe. National Socialism and its racist, tyrannical ideology had been defeated, as had Italian Fascism; freedom was triumphant.

World War II was not over, as Japan remained a formidable ally, but the first vital and difficult victory was won. It is unfortunate that many Nazis were allowed to hold important positions in both Germany and America after the war, but certainly on May 8 of 1945, millions of Americans could rejoice with unbridled relief.

No more American soldiers would face Nazi guns in Europe, no more families wait for the heart-wrenching news of a beloved relative killed in Europe, and the end of war began to be a real and achievable prospect. And that victory was due in the largest measure not to the decisions of incompetent and too-cautious American leaders, but to the heroism and determination of the ordinary—or not-so-ordinary—American soldier…