WASHINGTON, D.C. -- On Saturday, May 29, President George W.
Bush will dedicate the much-delayed World War II Memorial on the
National Mall between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln
Memorial. The site is fitting, for both Washington and Lincoln
led the nation through wars of national survival. On Monday, May
31, Memorial Day, the president will place a wreath at the Tomb
of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery -- an annual rite
honoring the nation's war dead. The following week, the
commander in chief will travel to Normandy for the 60th
anniversary of Operation Overlord -- commonly known as "D-Day"
-- the event that marked the beginning of the end for Adolf
Hitler's Third Reich. These three commemorations invite some
reflection on the war in which we are now engaged. Though
Memorial Day recognizes those who made the ultimate sacrifice in
all our country's conflicts, most of the focus for the next
several months will be on World War II, the 16 million Americans
who served and the 400,000 who peri