80 Years Since VE Day: May We Remember The Cost Of War As We Enjoy The Fruits Of Peace
80 years ago this day, on May 8, 1945, the guns of war fell silent across Europe. Victory in Europe Day marked the official defeat of Nazi Germany, ending a conflict that left the Continent in ruins and the world forever changed. For those of us who enjoy the relative peace, prosperity, and freedom of the modern era, it’s worth pausing to reflect on just how much blood, sweat, and tears it took to build the world we now too often take for granted.
World War II was a total war. It demanded not just armies but entire societies; men and women on the front lines and on assembly lines. Factories were repurposed, children evacuated, rations imposed, liberties suspended. The cost in human life is almost unfathomable to our modern sensibilities. But even more sobering is the truth that it didn’t have to happen. The war came because peace failed: because institutions crumbled, democracies eroded, and lies were allowed to metastasize into national ideologies.
This week, while reading reflections on VE Day, I found myself thinking about the fragile nature of the world we’ve inherited. The postwar order–the alliances, norms, and institutions that were painstakingly built to keep the peace–was not inevitable. It was created. And like anything created, it can be dismantled.
There is a travel angle here, too. Every time I step off a plane in a country that was once occupied or bombed, I marvel at how far we’ve come. That I can sip espresso in Warsaw, stroll the streets of Munich, or ride a train from Amsterdam to Paris with no border check is no small thing. This freedom to move, to explore, to engage across cultures, is the fruit of that peace. And it’s a reminder that travel is not just a luxury–it’s one of the most tangible signs that peace exists.
But peace is not permanent. Institutions that took decades to build can crumble in a few short years. We see it in the erosion of democratic norms, the cheapening of discourse, and the casual way in which some speak of enemies and violence. History doesn’t exactly repeat, but it rhymes. If we are not vigilant, we may find ourselves once again watching the world unravel in real time.
Henry van Dyke penned the hymn “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee” in 1907, as Europe lurched closer to the First World War. He described his verses not as a call to nationalism or triumph but as a call to joy: “the hymn of the ages” that he hoped would outlive war. And indeed it has outlived a century of war, including the utter devastation of World War II. We sing it still, a reminder that even in a world torn by conflict, we can aspire to beauty, to truth, to something greater than ourselves.
So on this 80th anniversary of VE Day, may we remember the cost. May we give thanks for the allies who stood together, for the courage it took to defeat tyranny, and for the wisdom it took to then build something better. For the sacrifice of 25 million men and women who died in conflict for the cause of peace. And may we learn the lessons of history, not only so that we are not doomed to repeat them, but so that we may honor those who came before us by stewarding well the world they fought to give us.
Travel is a gift. Freedom is a gift. Democracy is a gift. All are worth defending.
well said.
and it was the role the US played in Europe and across the Pacific during WWII that pushed the US to the head of the world order. Sometimes it takes lots of force to end conflict.
and in this complex and interconnected world in which we live, there is an incessant stream of news. One simply has to pay attention to what you think matters.
The US and UK are on the verge of negotiating a new trade agreement which is timely considering the relationship between the two countries.
and Pakistan and India continue to escalate tensions.
and the Middle East continues to be a hotspot of activity.
US airlines currently are not flying to India and Israel as a result of these conflicts.
Yes, peace is the framework for modern life. and the cost of that peace was brutal war that, by God’s grace, the world will never see again until the end of this era.
America is great because Matthew and his wife are accepted despite being from the same ethnic groups that elected a Nazi leader and war criminal. Matthew’s grandfather was not sent to internment camps in rural Arkansas or Idaho.
My grandfathers fought against the Germans…
The United States Navy SEALs are the most elite warriors in the world.
And unfortunately, the lessons learned as the Allies collectively defeated fascism and the national socialists have been lost on many through time as well as ignorance.
I was not born until the late ‘60s but can only imagine not only the relief but also jubilation throughout most of the world.
Of course this is a political commentary that
It is a sad state of affairs, where the president of the USA, a draft dodger who has no regard for our soldiers and institutions which have over the past 80 years fought to keep good vs. bad and prosperity for our great country, has single handedly destroyed our good standing and attacks our allies who fought along side.
I never understood how Hitler rose to power setting off the National Socialist MoCement with such speed. Sadly the parallels are are too clear to see.
It is not only scary but with deep sadness to see how the MAGA movement has blinded almost half of this country with lies and deceit Elon Musk wrecking our government at his and Trump’s gain. Selling out our institutions, ravaging them. The destruction left behind may be irreversible. And for what? Not for values and ideals, but to sell out the American people.
I yearn for the values and ideals of post WWIi. Sadly this part of American and World History is lost on the ruthless morons in power.
National Socialist Movement
Not National Socialist MoCement incorrectly autocorrected above
Imagine the war outcome if Nazis had believed the exposed war plans at the American Turkish embassy by the dozens of spies inside it.
Hear hear.
Unfortunately and with no small tinge of irony the people who would most benefit from absorbing this are the ones who will refute it so they can pretend they aren’t moving our nation – that our fathers fought against fascism to protect – in the same totalitarian direction. Often in the name of freedom.
Well written!