Allies in Memory

Abstract

Allies in Memory Amidst the ruins of postwar Europe, and just as the Cold War dawned, many new memorials were dedicated to those Americans who had fought and fallen for freedom. Some of these monuments, plaques, stained-glass windows and other commemorative signposts were established by agents of the US government, partly in the service of transatlantic diplomacy; some were built by American veterans' groups mourning lost comrades; and some were provided by grateful and grieving European communities. As the war receded, Europe also became the site for other forms of American commemoration: from the sombre and solemn battlefield pilgrimages of veterans, to the political theatre of presidents, to the production and consumption of commemorative souvenirs. With a specific focus on the processes and practices in two distinct regions of Europe-Normandy and East Anglia-Sam Edwards tells a story of postwar Euro-American cultural contact, and of the acts of transatlantic commemoration that this bequeathed.

The meaning of Madingley: Anglo-American commemorative culture at the Cambridge American Military Cemetery

“…Veteran's organisations flourished and their emphasis on patriotism and American values chimed with a rise of wider conservatism as a reaction to the social tumult and disturbance of the 1960s. 54 For veterans, personal moral behaviour was now often more important in explaining the war than the old collective visions of the 1940s. Individual patriotic service and sacrifice increasingly came to overlay trauma and violence in a 'common man heroism' that served to restrict discussion of the wider controversies of the war.…”

“…Although it incorporates a host of American design features the accent and 'theology' on the Anglo-American alliance is British. 60 The lack of demonstrable presidential interest in visiting cemeteries only began to change after the conclusion of the Vietnam War with President Carter visiting Normandy with President Giscard d'Estaing in January 1978. 61 Carter famously saw a 'crisis in confidence' that struck at the 'very heart and soul and spirit of our national will' emanating from Vietnam.…”

“…61 Carter famously saw a 'crisis in confidence' that struck at the 'very heart and soul and spirit of our national will' emanating from Vietnam. 62 When it came to visiting Normandy, however, Carter's speech was conventional in its referencing of the commanders and units that participated. 63 President Reagan was the first to fully appreciate the importance of meaning in overseas cemeteries and adapt to the changing commemorative world.…”

Special relationships: romance, race, and the friendly invasion in film and television, 1941–1996

“…In 1984, for example, Reagan (a former actor in wartime propaganda films) stood on the cliff-tops overlooking the D-Day beaches to offer a powerfully appealing vision of the Second World War as an era of national unity, patriotic duty, and victory (all in stark contrast to the experience of Vietnam). 74 The same year, historian Studs Terkel succinctly identified what was clearly then emerging: the idea that the 1940s battle with Nazism was nothing less than a 'Good War'. 75 The end of the Cold War in 1989-90, victory in the Gulf War (1991), and the renewed interest of Hollywood (as seen in the success of Saving Private Ryan [1998]) duly ensured that the Second World War gained still greater visibility and currency.…”