World leaders and citizens throughout the world honor allied troops who, 75 years ago, stormed the beaches to open a new front against the Nazis. But the Washington Post had other ideas, with Cambridge history PhD Ruth Lawlor writing about the “darker underbelly [of] racial inequality and a militant form of misogyny” that accompanied the Normandy landings and the subsequent liberation of western Europe.

At first glance, it may seems like Lawlor is discussing the atrocities committed by Nazis, such as the genocide of Jews and Slavs. But she’s actually referring to the “rape and racism” of US troops during and after D-Day in Western Europe. Conveniently, the atrocities committed by German troops were unmentioned.

Lawlor wrote that white US troops, compared to black ones, were rarely punished for raping civilians. More specifically, she even went after the iconic 101st Airborne Division and questioned why its troops didn’t face justice for raping several French girls in 1945.

Not surprisingly, the backlash was swift against the liberal writer:

“There ya go WaPo…I knew we could count on you for something to darken D-Day remembrances,” wrote one.

“Sure there was racism, but keep in mind 10s of millions of people of all races were killed during the war and entire countries destroyed.” wrote another, who believed that Lawlor forgot about the wider scope of the war to focus on a narrow topic.

“How easy it is for you to sit in your comfy chair in safety and complete freedom to denigrate those who fought and died for your very right to write these things,” wrote a ‘daughter of a D-Day hero’, who called Lawlor unappreciative of the freedom brought by troops she accused to being rapists. “How easy to point fingers, denigrate and tear down memories having never experienced an nth of what those soldiers, many of whom were 18 years old, did.”

As of now, Lawlor made her Twitter account private to prevent other users from criticizing her. Instead of worrying and reading the onslaught of more angry comments, perhaps she can take the time to appreciate the freedoms brought by those she criticized.