Simon & Schuster promotes the Stephen E. Ambrose book on D-Day by saying, “The world changed forever on June 6, 1944, when Allied forces stormed beaches across northern France to beat back the Nazis and reclaim Europe. No book better captures the drama, strategy, sacrifice, and courage of that campaign than Stephen Ambrose’s D-Day.” Nobody doubts the courage and sacrifice. The issue is whether a fascist takeover of the world has been thwarted and the communists have filled the void and won.

The men who stormed Normandy 79 years ago saved democracy “and it is all of our duty to defend with undimmed vigor the principles for which the Allies fought,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III said on June 6. But Russian communism survived and thrived.

“To the veterans of World War II: We salute you,” Austin said. “You saved the world. We must merely defend it.”

But the world was not saved. The communists attempted a complete takeover of Europe. They failed but they did take China and launched an invasion of South Korea. Later, they invaded South Vietnam and won. In the meantime, they took Cuba, positioning nuclear weapons for a first-strike attack on the United States. President John F. Kennedy forced the Soviets to back down but his decision to liberate Cuba failed because of a lack of will.

Under President Reagan’s anti-communist foreign policy, the Russian communists were on the defensive. Reagan liberated communist Grenada and funded anti-communist freedom fighters in Nicaragua. A decision was made by the Russian communists to drop the communist label and forge ahead under the banner of Russia alone. The deception fooled many conservatives in the West into thinking the rulers had given up vodka and returned to their religious roots.