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June 6 is the commemoration of D-Day, 1944. I have had many privileges in my lifetime, but none that I have felt less worthy of than when I was invited to attend a dinner honoring a very elite class of Americans – the remaining survivors of those who had gone ashore at Normandy that fateful day. I sat riveted as our speaker shared what it was like going ashore at Normandy Beach in the early hours of that day.

While there is debate over the actual number of casualties that day – there is little debate of the total number of casualties suffered during the war years of 1940-1947. American participants in same totaled 16,535,000, with 406,000 paying the ultimate price.

The questions that beg an answer are: Did those men and women give their lives so that the Dixie Chicks could curse America? Did those men and women sacrifice their lives for the likes of Michael Moore, Alec Baldwin, Danny Glover, et al., to condemn America? Did they die that carrion like Harry Belafonte and Louis Farrakhan could condemn America, while holding audience with brutal dictators such as Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez?

During World War II, our fighting men and women were honored and revered by the citizenry for their selfless service. Today, public schools teachers and college professors teach students not only to revile America, but to hate our military.

A political cartoon that appeared in the Aug. 28,1942, edition of the New York Herald Tribune was captioned "We can't equal their sacrifices, but we can still try." It was intended to promote the buying of war bonds. It depicted the allied leaders shouldering the weight of the world during its "greatest tragedy." Three frames showed troops fighting on land, in the air and on the sea, with another frame depicting Americans wearing wooden barrels for clothing as they marched off to purchase war bonds – with a caption reading: "If all the rest of us gave everything to buy war bonds, we couldn't even the score."

Today, we see cartoons depicting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as Aunt Jemima. President Roosevelt was not only all but wheelchair-bound, he operated under veils of secrecy to the extent that even his travel plans were censored for reasons of national security. People literally didn't know he had left until he had returned. President Bush is excoriated for daring to take reasonable measures to ensure our safety.

Bush is mercilessly mocked. Not that the president doesn't deserve our consternation for no few agenda nightmares – but he doesn't deserve same for preventing terrorism in the streets of our cities.

I'm not suggesting that FDR didn't suffer slings and arrows from anarchists of that day, but he had the courage to stay the course. And it is here that I should state, I am no fan of Roosevelt. There was what Washington Star political cartoonist Clifford Berryman captioned, "Rout of the Typewriter Strategists." It seems that even then the media viewed itself as being more knowledgeable than the president and the military pursuant to war strategy.

They weren't, however, rewarded with Pulitzer Prizes for endangering the war effort by sharing highly sensitive information. And it is without question that former presidents, with long records of abysmal failure, were not given Nobel Prizes for treachery to their own country.

America is unique – and without hesitation, every military person I know will tell you that they fight, not only to keep America safe, but also free. Americans are free to dissent, and they are free to strike – our media are free to engage in whatever scurrilous attacks they are Machiavellian enough to undertake, as evidenced by Eason Jordan of CNN, Dan Rather and the New York Times.

Our brave men and women sacrificed their lives to ensure our way of life, and we honor them for it. But they didn't die for their families and our citizenry to suffer a double tax at the time of their/our passing. They didn't die to defend the redefining of marriage. They didn't sacrifice their lives for loathsome legal entities (including the highest court in the land) to defend those who would do us harm. And they certainly didn't sacrifice life and limb to have tens of millions of illegals violate our sovereign laws to come here, and then be rewarded with amnesty for doing so.

That is something President Bush needs to think about as he commemorates the sacrifice paid by over 400,000 men and women 62 years ago. If he doesn't, we should remind him and every person who holds elected office, and dismisses same at the ballot box in November.