I don't see ANYONE putting up this much of a storm for Saipan, Guadalcanal, Tarawa or Okinawa.
Indeed.
Operation Overlord(The Invasion of Normandy) lead to about 4,600 deaths by Allied forces(United States, Britain, and Canada). Whereas the Germans are believed to have lost between 5,000 to 8,000 men at arms.
America lost almost 3,000 Marines retaking Saipan. The Japanese lost around 24,000 soldiers. America, Australia, and New Zealand lost about 7,000 at Guadalcanal, with the Japanese again losing approximately 24,000 men. But NEITHER of those compares to Okinawa. Okinawa saw over 12,000 Americans and Britons killed in action, with the Japanese suffering about 110,000 slain.
So that leads to about 12,000 killed at Normandy, on both sides. Where 27,000 were lost at Saipan, 31,000 at Guadalcanal, and
122,000 lost on Okinawa.
Some may say I am biased due to my dual citizenship between America and Japan. But the numbers speak far more horrific numbers. ALL of those invasions/battles helped bring an end to the war in which they were being fought in. I have nothing but respect for the honored dead in all of these campaigns.
But seriously... Okinawa was one of the bloodiest and most horrific battles in the history of modern warfare. The Marines and the Japanese sure knew how to fight.
/WarBuff Akiko
Back on topic...
Even if Google is an American corporation, based in America, with the Internet being an American invention, and yet being MOSTLY based in America on American servers....
Google is STILL a private corporation. They are under no obligation to mark any events whatsoever. They have all rights to mark whatever events they desire, by our own laws.
How did
I memorialize D-Day? I sat down with the roommate and popped in his DVD of Saving Private Ryan. Not much else I COULD do, given the lack of means or ability.
As for why the 65th anniversary means something? Well, it is quite likely that many of these veterans will either be gone, or too feeble/incapable of attending events again in the future. Honor them while you can while they're still around to honor, I say.
But we should not forget the survivors of the other parts of the War, either.