The Washington Post

Editorial

STALIN, HERO OF D-DAY? A U.S. MEMORIAL PAYS HOMAGE TO A SOVIET TYRANT.

27 June 2010


AMERICANS GENERALLY avoid publicly memorializing foreign tyrants who
commit murder on an epic scale. That fine custom is all the more
sensible when it applies to struggling private foundations whose
solvency depends on the goodwill of the public and, specifically,
patriotic veterans for whom murderous dictators are not a big selling
point.

Somehow, all this failed to register with the people who run the
National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Va., about 200 miles southwest of
Washington. Not long ago, they installed a bronzed bust of Soviet
dictator Joseph Stalin to accompany those of Winston Churchill, Franklin
Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman. They did so despite public protests, the
memorial's serious financial problems and the possibly pertinent fact
that Stalin played no direct role in the D-Day landings.

The D-Day memorial was authorized by Congress and dedicated by President
George W. Bush in 2001 to recognize the valor of Allied forces who
fought and died in Normandy in June 1944. It's a stirring collection of
exhibits: imposing statues; narrative plaques; a stylized replica of a
landing craft; a sculpture depicting a soldier lying dead on the beach;
simulations of the withering enemy fire that raked disembarking troops;
a wall bearing the names of thousands of the dead; and a slightly
grandiose arch bearing D-Day's Allied codename: Overlord. Bedford was
chosen because 22 of its sons died on D-Day, more per capita than in any
other town in America. But ticket sales and donations have been modest,
and the memorial, with no federal funding, faces an uncertain future.

Officials of the foundation that runs the memorial note that a plaque
accompanying Stalin's bust pays tribute to "the tens of millions who
died under Stalin's rule." But casual visitors may assume its inclusion
implies lionization, and they will be forgiven for not reading the fine
print.

In the Soviet Union itself, most statues and other images of Stalin were
removed from public view a half century ago in recognition of the fact
that he ranks among history's most homicidally prolific autocrats.
Veterans groups and others are organizing petition drives demanding the
bust's removal from the memorial. The D-Day Memorial Foundation's newly
named president, Robin Reed, would be wise if, in his first major
decision, he acceded to their demand.