Why RI must keep Victory Day a state holiday | Opinion

Rep. Patricia A. Morgan, R-West Warwick, was elected to the House of Representatives in November 2020 after previously serving in the House from 2011 through 2018.

On Feb. 27, the House held a hearing on bill H7326, introduced by Democrat Rep. Jennifer Stewart (D-Pawtucket). She and other “progressive” representatives think that celebrating Victory Day in Rhode Island is an affront to an “inclusive” culture.  They want to cancel Victory Day and replace it with a so-called Peace and Remembrance Day, because, among other off-base criticisms and invidious slanders, we should not be celebrating the death of civilians during World War II (which we already aren’t doing). 

Her prepared statement provides an insight into the twisted worldview of the Left.  In their minds, the patriotic folks who established Victory Day ignored reality. They believe the people in charge during World War II made decisions that were morally problematic and troubling, and that Victory Day celebrates a mythologized history that revisionist scholars have exposed as a fairy tale and supplanted with the ugly truth of American conduct during the war. They call into question anything that might be construed as good, or as having a positive impact.

The list of indictments of World War II continued to grow — Representative Stewart was on a roll.

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It seems that “modern historians” have cast doubt on the necessity of using the atomic bomb to end the war.  She also enlightened us with the absurd assertion by revisionist left-wing scholars that American soldiers were responsible for 50 million civilian casualties. 

Her reasoning was filled with spurious and hackneyed charges that focused on American soldiers and failed to mention our enemy’s culpability.

This is a glimpse into the mind of the radical left.

The problem for me is that it ignores history in favor of revisionist Marxist pseudo-scholarship that seeks to undermine our country. These radicals are systematically picking through our nation’s history and methodically destroying every piece that serves as a bond that holds us together as a nation.

Not long ago, Americans could unite around the war effort in World War II as a shining example of collective sacrifice in service of noble ends, and a time when there was a clear delineation of good and evil and no doubt which side America was on.

By denigrating our history, they dissolve our ties in the present. By attacking our ancestors, they attack us.

Today, Victory Day commemorates a community of shared burden, striving for the common good, and the celebration of total victory against a brutal, implacable, expansionist empire. Tomorrow, if the activists get their way, it will be replaced with a day when we are supposed to feel bad about all the things America did in World War II that offend the delicate sensibilities of the emotional children on the Left.

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The truth is military victories are built on defeating the enemy. Rhode Islanders who celebrate Victory Day want to show their gratitude to those who fought for our country and for our values. Some 92,000 Rhode Islanders fought in that war, one out of every 10 citizens; 2,200 were killed.  They sacrificed to stop fascist regimes from taking over the world.

It should concern every American that the plain old facts are seemingly not taught in our schools anymore. Grievance and advocacy have taken their place using pseudo history built on ideologically driven rubbish.

I made my thoughts clear during the hearing: Historical facts are not up for debate. Nor are they open to scholarship that evolves and modernizes them.

War is hell and civilians get caught in the middle. But casting aspersions on American soldiers who sacrificed for our country is not open to debate. All of us should thank them for supplying that Great Victory.