Despite the snickers (and/or outrage) over the gaffe by Rep. Drew Ferguson (GOP from Alabama), posting a D-Day remembrance that featured a picture of German troops in the field, I’m ready to believe that the pic was put in place by “an intern at a digital media company that works with the congressman’s campaign”.
This goes right along with State Dept. spokeswoman Heather Nauert using D-Day as an example of how close the US/Germany relationship is.
The fact is, even if they kind of know about it, WW2 is practically as far in the past today as the Spanish-American War was when I was a kid.
It’s not that WW2 isn’t relevant to younger generations today, nor that (esp. from a State Dept. spokescritter) we shouldn’t expect more, but it’s gradually becoming more of an intellectual matter, not an emotional / cultural one. Perhaps that’s a contributing reason why there’s been a resurgence in alt-Right / fascistic / Nazi thought among younger people.
What we should expect are more mistakes like these. Not as part of a sinister conspiracy. Just because the history they touch on is increasingly distant, and increasingly less central to our world.
FACT CHECK: Did a Georgia Lawmaker Tweet a Photograph of Nazis on D-Day?
Reminds me of when a newsreader here referred to the 1972 Munich Olympics being the occasion of an attack by 'Israeli terrorists'.
There's no point in flying into a rage over these errors. As you said, there are going to be many more as time passes.
Heck, it's been a decade since Inglorious Basterds was made.
I'm still not giving modern Nazis a pass.
+Michael Verona Nor should you. Nor should you fail to note how things worked out the last time the Nazis were in charge. Just, as Travis notes, realize that there's an increasing level of education necessary.
And, yeah, some kids born after Saving Private Ryan will be old enough to drink in the US this year. It's history, not culture, any more.
Depends on the person. My mom remembers seeing ships burning off the NJ coast after being torpedoed by German subs. It's definitely still culture for her.
My grandmother was born just before the Armistice, and is still mentally aware enough to talk about how hard it was to run a household on rationing, with a brand new infant, during WWII.