This week marks anniversaries of
two momentous events. June 6 was the 75th anniversary of D-Day, and
June 3rd the 30th anniversary of Tiananmen Square. On
both days thousands of lives were lost, sacrificed for freedom from repressive
regimes, one Nazi and the other Communist. One succeeded, the other failed. The
heroism of one was celebrated, the sacrifices of the other met with enforced
silence.
I have walked the sands of Omaha
Beach and I have also stood where thousands of Chinese protestors were murdered
under the enormous portrait of Chairman Mao.
In Normandy, caravans of buses
disgorge hordes of tourists every day. They come to stand on the beach to
visualize American soldiers coming ashore and climbing the cliffs under enemy
fire. They also pay their respects to the dead interred below the endless rows
of crosses above the cliffs. Few emerge from the experience with dry eyes. I
can personally attest to that.
Hordes of tourists also visit
Tiananmen Square. But they will see no evidence of the slaughter that took
place there. As many as a million people had gathered in that enormous space in
the days preceding the massacre to call for democratic reforms. In response,
the government mowed them down with tanks and machine guns.
When I stood in that square some
years ago, I did not see tears on the faces of the tourists or the local
population. There were no signs to remind them of the atrocities committed
there by the Chinese authorities against their own people, except perhaps for
the presence of armed patrols who were there to enforce the public’s oblivion. Today,
the brutal reality of that event has been blotted out, eradicated from history
books, and forbidden from mention.
Later this year we will mark the 30th
anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, an event surely not forgotten by China’s
communist dictators. They must know that the desire for freedom is part of
human nature, and that their repressive regime must also fall…eventually. I
hope to still be alive see it.
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