Today Feels Like D-Day

Plus: NZ political updates from the day

Except it’s not.

D-Day was in 1944 when over 156,000 Allied Forces, including individual Kiwis, stormed five beaches in Normandy to fight the Nazi regime.

The thought of the reality of war makes me feel emotional. It’s the height of human conflict and violence and the culmination of ignorance over coming together as human beings.

There are always sparks though:

In World War 1, German and British soldiers spontaneously put down their weapons and animosity in an unplanned ceasefire on the Western Front.

They stopped fighting, and came together to enjoy songs, drinks, and even a game of soccer, in what is now known as the Christmas Truce.

British soldier Bruce Bairnsfather said of that time:

“Here they were—the actual, practical soldiers of the German army. There was not an atom of hate on either side.”

Military commanders put an end to that possibility after that though - no fraternizing with the enemy. No spontaneous peace.

And today is US election day and to me, it feels consequential too.

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