D-Day memories of a different America | Letters to the editor

On D-Day, 80 years ago, June 6, 1944, I was 10 years old and living in Lima, Ohio.

During the war, everything and everyone was mobilized. We kids helped in drives to collect newspapers, scrap metal, fat and rubber. There were bond drives, rationing and families received ration stamps, redeemable for food and gasoline.

My father was past draft age, but ached to serve. But because of flat feet and weak eyes, he was deferred. He heard that if he drank a lot of carrot juice, his eyesight would get better, but the Navy still rejected him.

We got our news from the Lima News, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Toledo Blade or from newsreels at the movies. I recall scenes from “America First” rallies at Madison Square Garden, espousing support for Nazi Germany and an effort to keep America out of the emerging war.

The result was the most devastating war ever, not just in the loss of so many combatants, but of civilians. I know some of you who lost family members as well as GIs who did not return. It was the consequence of European dictators.

So when I first heard Make America Great Again, I knew exactly where that was and is going: support for authoritarianism at the expense of democracy. This seems so sadly ironic as we celebrate the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

It should not just be older folks who worry, but everyone with a sense of history, who studies and respects democracy, the Constitution and rule of law. Please remember this for the next few months until November 5.

Making America Great Again sounds good, but like the Wizard of Oz, look behind the curtain.

Dick Blattner, Hollywood

Never to be forgotten

What a wonderful day.

The sun shone over Normandy. King Charles III was moved to tears. The D-Day Memorial was a fantastic tribute to all those brave young men and women who sacrificed so much, on June 6, 1944. Eighty years ago, the liberation of Europe began, a day in history that is never to be forgotten — and a thank you to them all.

Syd Vaughan, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Ron’s reckless verbiage

So, our esteemed governor thinks that Donald Trump was convicted by a “kangaroo court.”

As a fellow Harvard Law graduate of Ron DeSantis (about three decades apart), I find that he often leaves me wondering about his legal acumen, and about his time at our alma mater.

Biographical accounts of him that I’ve read contain no information about his time at Harvard Law. Baseball teammates from Yale were quoted, but there are no comparable recollections from law school classmates.

It’s possible to go through law school in near-anonymity, and I’m guessing he was one of those.

But it magnifies my curiosity about his intellectual engagement, as does his propensity for proposing legislation of questionable constitutionality. I’ve often imagined him thinking, “This will probably be struck down, but what the heck, let’s give it a shot.” But that might be giving him too much credit.

There’s no reason to believe that graduation from a prestigious law school will always correlate with highly developed analytical skills.

A kangaroo court, Ron? By which you mean that the trial was unfair? I find it particularly painful to hear such reckless verbiage from a man with our governor’s educational background.

Marc Rohr, Plantation 

The writer is professor of law emeritus at Shepard Broad College of Law, NSU.

Trump deserves jail time

No one is above the law. Trump should go to jail and face three more trials. I wouldn’t let him take care of my pet rock. Our governor and senators should be sent packing. Justices Scalia and Thomas should be impeached.

Meanwhile, climate change goes on and makes life harder every day. I am glad I never had kids, and at age 75, I will probably be dead before it’s time to pay the piper.

Rob Smith, Fort Lauderdale