“A Soldier Never Forgets Who Stood by His Side. Nations Shouldn’t Either.”
Our Danish neighbors are loyal allies, brave soldiers, and good people
“This is where the Resistance hid.”
We all halted in a hushed silence.
The serious, soft-spoken docent didn’t elaborate but he gestured toward the makeshift wooden catwalks and multiple staircases. For the briefest moment, I wasn’t even sure I’d actually heard him correctly.
He was somber. Deferential. I hadn’t misunderstood.
He had taken us on an unexpected detour from an otherwise standard visit of a historic landmark. We appreciated the opportunity to tour many castles, churches, and museums, each holding more history than anyone could ever memorize. But that August day, we found ourselves reliving the extraordinary history of this particular place: real people, real heroes; scared but brave Danes who risked everything to fight the Nazis. We could feel the gravity of their sacrifice. And after seven decades of historic peace, five Americans stood where everyday Danes forged a path for good to triumph over evil.
The Danish people didn’t just fight Nazis. They defied them. And they outsmarted them.
The Museum of Jewish Heritage recommends more than a dozen books about the heroic rescue of Danish Jews in 1943. Boat after boat, one intrepid collaborative after another made their way across the Øresund Strait for Sweden. Sweden met the moment: they offered to accept an unlimited number of refugees.
More than 7,200 of Denmark’s 7,800 Jews survived the Holocaust because coordinated resistance between Denmark’s King Christian X, government officials, police, a Copenhagen rabbi, a high school teacher, fishermen, and everyday Danes not only recognized the humanity of their fellow Danes, but risked their own lives to protect it.
The majority of the Danish Jews who escaped to Sweden returned to their homes and businesses after the war.
One of the great American sins (we have many) was the 254 German Jews who ultimately died during WWII because the U.S. turned away the MS St. Louis in 1939. Aboard that ocean liner were 907 terrified souls in desperate need of immediate asylum. We Americans failed to meet that moment. Consequently, hundreds of innocent people died, including children.
“The decision to refuse the ship entry was framed as a pragmatic policy decision at the time. There were calculations about economic and cultural absorption, xenophobic sentiment, and a desire to deter other would-be arrivals. Denying visas was bureaucratic and bloodless. Its air of reasonableness made it palatable to the public.” - HIAS Foundation (originally the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society)
Americans have much to be proud of throughout WWII. But this tragically “pragmatic” chapter is an important reminder that heroism is rarely ubiquitous.
We exploited “pragmatism” as a moral loophole to let people die preventable deaths. Our Danish allies committed their pragmatism to saving lives.
The same strategic planning and networking the Danes employed to save thousands of lives during WWII is the same skill and savvy they invested in protecting an entire hemisphere during the Cold War.
I have seen their ingenuity, infrastructure, preparation, and training. You can too.
A full 18 meters under the UNESCO World Heritage Stevn’s Cliff is Stevnsfort, a Cold War fortress and bunker on the Baltic Sea. Stevnsfort served as a bulwark against invasion by any Warsaw Pact countries. When the fear of nuclear war defined a generation, the Danes carved reinforced tunnels into a limestone cliff to secure the democratic West from the communist East. And when the possibility of an invasion by air increased, their Air Force proactively installed a HAWK missile battery (pictured, in part, above.)
Should the West be attacked by sea or air, the Danes were prepared. And they were ready to protect democracy for all of us.
One of my host moms took me for a traditional “Danish dip” in the frigid water of the Baltic Sea; in October, before the full force of the Scandinavian winter took hold. Many Danes submerge themselves in this icy water all winter long to invigorate their circulation and strengthen their immune systems. They are built tough.
Following the September 11th attacks against the U.S., Danish soldiers deployed with us and other NATO allies to Afghanistan. Between 2002 and 2014 they incurred the highest number of per capita casualties of any NATO country.
J.D. Vance is not an international military strategist or a foreign policy expert. But retired General Ben Hodges is.
“In Helmand, Afghanistan, we had no qualms about sending our wounded American soldiers to the hospital that Denmark ran. We did so because we, America, trusted Denmark and the Danes,” Gen. Hodges told the Danish newspaper Berlingske on January 9, 2026.
Gen. Hodges was the commanding general for the United States Army Europe. His interview has been widely quoted across social media platforms since.
As the NATO Senior Mentor for Logistics and the Senior Advisor to Human Rights First, Gen. Hodges is a uniquely qualified geopolitical expert.
J.D. Vance has not held the Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies at the Center for European Policy Analysis. But Gen. Hodges did.
“It is embarrassing for all of us when the President or Vice President of the United States says that Denmark has not been good allies,” Gen. Hodges said. “We, who were in Afghanistan, remember the losses suffered by the Danish units. Americans who participated in the operation, or understand the depth of what Denmark delivered in the war, respect your efforts. It’s embarrassing to hear anything else from people who have no idea about things.”
Our vice president was a Marine. He deployed to Iraq. And he still had the audacity to declare to the world that the Danes have not been good allies. Not only is this abjectly untrue, it is a stab in the back.
Company Sergeant Major Henrik Bager is a Danish combat veteran who deployed with us to Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. He was one of countless soldiers to be shocked and betrayed by J.D. Vance, his brother in arms. In a message to former U.S. Ambassador to Denmark Rufus Gifford, CSM Bager said, “A soldier never forgets who stood by his side. Nations shouldn’t either.”
Dear CSM Bager, please accept one more American thank you for your service and sacrifice. Tusind tak to you and your fellow soldiers. Three times over, you have earned the gratitude of the American people and the official commendation of our government.
That Danish soldiers fought and died alongside us in Iraq and Afghanistan, countries they had no vested interest in beyond their loyalty to us, was, inexcusably, not widely publicized in the U.S. But the Danes didn’t just allocate resources, they sent their people. And many of those soldiers endured criticism from their fellow Danes for being too loyal to a singularly American endeavor.
Other Danish soldiers never got the chance to return home.
Dearest Danish neighbors, and friends we haven’t met yet, please know this:
We are so grateful for your sacrifices. We are so deeply sorry for your soldiers who came home wounded, the soldiers you had to bury, and the heartbroken families they left behind. And we thank your hospitals, doctors, and nurses for all the soldiers they cared for, for all the lives they saved.
We honor our alliance as well as your independence. And, to be clear, democratically-minded Americans don’t think that your independence depends on your allegiance to American objectives. Your independence is yours. Full stop.
Please know that we also feel betrayed by our government, and by far too many of our fellow Americans. We are grief-stricken and scared. We are stunned and heartbroken too.
Thank you so much for being able to read in English since I don’t speak Danish. Yet. I want so desperately to share all of this with you and communicate with you.
Thank you for your friendship.
Dear fellow Americans, some points for us:
We must respect what Greenlanders want for themselves. As we so dearly champion freedom for ourselves, their self-determination is equally paramount.
Remember that as we continue to cut funding for education in the U.S., each generation learns less about our shared global history. Throughout 20th and 21st-century conflict and wars our Danish allies have proven their bravery and their commitment to international democracy. And we haven’t been taught enough about them.
Now, a five-time draft-dodging Fortunate Son is threatening the shared peace and stability that we the Western Hemisphere have forged together because he “loves maps” and his unchecked ego wants to acquire an entire people like a real estate deal. An American president is not owed someone else’s independent nation just because Greenland is “massive” and he was told “No.” No one is.
It is incumbent upon us to both appreciate our Danish allies and recognize their independence. Because no one’s sovereignty is contingent upon their military sacrifices for the U.S. or for American geopolitical ambitions.
Danish sovereignty, like Greenland’s, like ours, is enshrined by NATO. Honoring every nation’s autonomy, regardless of what they’ve done for us or with us is the cornerstone of democracy.
Danish neighbors, we are so grateful. And we are so sorry. We would like to continue to call you our friends.
Vi er så kede af det. Jeg elsker Danmark og jeg elsker det danske folk. Altid. Tusind tak for alt, mine venner. (Thank you to my friend Jesper for helping me translate.)
American friends, we must keep protesting in the streets and boycotting the private businesses funding the MAGA administration. We must keep trying to change the hearts and minds that voted for this divisive chaos.
Elected officials, we are imploring you to utilize every single power you have to rein in one unconscionable and totally unnecessary crisis after another.
History will remember your names.
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