This chaps my ass

[Guest mustangdave]

Something is SERIOUSLY wrong with people....anyone up for a road trip to remove this eye sore?

Stalin bust has Virginia town red-faced - Washington Times

[Guest Moody]

Rediculous... I only had a moment to skim the article, but seriously - Who is responsible for that?!?

[rab1961]

count me in

[Guest mustangdave]

Rediculous... I only had a moment to skim the article, but seriously - Who is responsible for that?!?

Some LIB-TARD that wants the "correct history"

[trblmkr13]

While I don't belive in rewriting history Stallin had nothing to do with D-Day why include him?

[Guest mustangdave]

While I don't belive in rewriting history Stallin had nothing to do with D-Day why include him?

Well...he was an ally...and the Russians did come "bring it" from the Eastern Front to the streets of Berlin...and GEN Patton was pissed that the politicians let them hit Berlin first instead of US.

[pitt2magic]

I rode my motorcycle from Chattanooga to New Market, VA yesterday. Had I know about this yesterday I could have used the statue for one of my bathroom stops.

[Falcon1]

My email just sent to them at their "Contact Us" URL (The National D-Day Memorial Foundation)

My father earned the Bronze Arrowhead on his European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal for participation in the D-Day Invasion operation. He passed away in 1999, or he might be asking this question himself...why is Josef Stalin's bust at the D-Day memorial? Did Soviet forces participate in the Normandy invasion in a hitherto-undisclosed way? What was the justification for the inclusion of this monstrous tyrant, who many historians believe murdered three times as many of his own citizens as Adolf Hitler horrifically murdered Jewish people from all over Europe, alongside the busts of such honorable men as Roosevelt, Truman, and Churchill, in a D-DAY memorial? In my opinion, Stalin's inclusion at your memorial besmirches the memory of those who fought and died in Normandy to liberate western Europe; Eastern Europe remained under the Soviet heel until 1989.

I served on active duty with the United States Army as a field artillery officer from 1981 to 1985, including a deployment for over a month to Europe as part of a NATO Reforger exercise in the fall of 1983, a deployment necessitated at that time by the continued Soviet domination of eastern Europe. Hence, I find Stalin's presence at the D-Day Memorial personally insulting as well.

Stalin's bust at the National D-Day Memorial: a truly shocking lapse of judgment on your part. I urge you to remove this offensive representation of one of history's most malevolent persons from your memorial immediately.

[towerclimber37]

I sent an email as well!

[Guest Tygarys]

I'd love to see what they have to say about this, Stalin was too busy fighting the Germans in Russia at the time of the D-day landings and most likely could not spare the extra troops. I'm not aware of any Russian involvement in the D-day invasion, although he probably had a few spies there.

Ok, after reading the article,

Mr. Edwards said the foundation tried to deflect some of the criticism by installing the bust at a private ceremony last week and by adding a plaque that describes Stalin both as a wartime leader and as a genocidal dictator.

It sounds like they knew he didn't belong there, but installed it anyway.

Edited June 10, 2010 by Tygarys

[monkeylizard]

If we're going to say Stalin shouldn't be there because it's a D-Day memorial, and not a WWII memorial, then why is Truman there?

Stalin's forces had a much greater role in the success of D-Day than many people realize. The Red Army inflicted the vast majority of German casualties. Without Soviet sacrifices on the Eastern Front, D-Day would not have succeeded. Hitler would have been able to move more armies from the East to the West and would have pushed us back into the sea, like Rommel wanted to do. He could have covered the coast with panzers from Cherbourg to Calais if they weren't tied up in the East.

That said, Stalin wasn't directly involved in D-Day, so I don't think he should be there. But neither should Truman.

Edited June 10, 2010 by monkeylizard

[Guest Knightsr25]

Well Adolph Hitler was certainly associated with D-Day , maybe we should have a bust of him as well ?

[monkeylizard]

That's a bit of a red herring, dontcha think? The USSR was a member of the Allied powers. But like I said, nothing to do with the specific actions of D-Day, so I don't see why his bust is up there.

[Falcon1]

If we're going to say Stalin shouldn't be there because it's a D-Day memorial, and not a WWII memorial, then why is Truman there?

Stalin's forces had a much greater role in the success of D-Day than many people realize. The Red Army inflicted the vast majority of German casualties. Without Soviet sacrifices on the Eastern Front, D-Day would not have succeeded. Hitler would have been able to move more armies from the East to the West and would have pushed us back into the sea, like Rommel wanted to do. He could have covered the coast with panzers from Cherbourg to Calais if they weren't tied up in the East.

That said, Stalin wasn't directly involved in D-Day, so I don't think he should be there. But neither should Truman.

Valid points. Soviet forces were a critical factor in the defeat of Nazi Germany, including having a role in our success at Normandy (still, Hitler's sleeping pills and Jodl's stubbornness may have as much a role too). As for Truman, at least he was the head of the U.S. Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program, credited with saving $15 billion and thousands of lives. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truman_Committee#Truman_Committee (I know, never use Wikipedia as a source. )

Yes, its a stretch...but it's still more justification for Truman being there than Stalin. Are Roosevelt, Truman, and Churchill at the Kursk Memoral? Kursk Photo 9 And since Stalin probably isn't at the Kursk Memorial anymore either, I submit he certainly shouldn't be at Bedford, Virginia.