D-Day Plus Sixty

The sixtieth anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy.

How poignant that Ronald Reagan died this weekend. Two of his more memorable speeches were delivered at the fortieth anniversary of D-Day, twenty years ago today, June 6, 1984.

Here is his speech at the U.S. Ranger Monument in Pointe du Hoc, France:

We're here to mark that day in history when the Allied armies joined in battle to reclaim this continent to liberty. For four long years, much of Europe had been under a terrible shadow. Free nations had fallen, Jews cried out in the camps, millions cried out for liberation. Europe was enslaved, and the world prayed for its rescue. Here in Normandy the rescue began. Here the Allies stood and fought against tyranny in a giant undertaking unparalleled in human history.

We stand on a lonely, windswept point on the northern shore of France. The air is soft, but 40 years ago at this moment, the air was dense with smoke and the cries of men, and the air was filled with the crack of rifle fire and the roar of cannon. At dawn, on the morning of the 6th of June, 1944, 225 Rangers jumped off the British landing craft and ran to the bottom of these cliffs. Their mission was one of the most difficult and daring of the invasion: to climb these sheer and desolate cliffs and take out the enemy guns. The Allies had been told that some of the mightiest of these guns were here and they would be trained on the beaches to stop the Allied advance....

And his speech, later that day, at Omaha Beach:

Mr. President, distinguished guests, we stand today at a place of battle, one that 40 years ago saw and felt the worst of war. Men bled and died here for a few feet of — or inches of sand, as bullets and shellfire cut through their ranks. About them, General Omar Bradley later said, "Every man who set foot on Omaha Beach that day was a hero."

No speech can adequately portray their suffering, their sacrifice, their heroism. President Lincoln once reminded us that through their deeds, the dead of battle have spoken more eloquently for themselves than any of the living ever could. But we can only honor them by rededicating ourselves to the cause for which they gave a last full measure of devotion....

Last week, the local paper ran a series of articles on local veterans who had participated in D-Day:

• USS Quincy fired first volley (Bob Randolph)
• Murray was part of first wave (Chuck Murray)
• Operation Tiger haunts him (Tom Sollosi)
• Essey manned the big guns (Sam Essey)
• Gatto hit the beach running (Mike Gatto)

On this anniversary, more perhaps than any other, it is appropriate to ponder the truth of an aphorism that I quoted a while back:

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Sun. 06/06/04 09:36:39 AM
Categorized as Historical & Ronald Reagan & Speeches and Suchlike.