God bless Ronald Reagan.
May he rest in peace.
Ronald Reagan with his
older brother Neil Reagan.
circa 1912.
Posted on 06/05/2004 10:28:12 PM PDT by redrock
"Ronald Reagan, D-Day.....and the War on Terror"
It is somehow fitting that Ronald Reagan passed away on the day before D-Day.
It is somehow fitting that perhaps the greatest President in my lifetime (and could be argued...in any lifetime) passed away just about the time that 60 years ago...men were parachuting into France...in a beginning of the end of the evil that was the Nazi Empire.
It is somehow fitting that the man who, in an absolute display of faith in the American dream and capabilities almost by himself caused the beginning of the destruction of the evil that was the Soviet Empire , died today.
====================================
Tomorrow will be the 60th Anniversary of "D-Day".
The day that brave men landed on the coast of France...straight into the teeth of the German Army. They died by the hundreds...some by bullets...some by drowning in the sea. But, no matter how brutal it became, they still did their duty....and fought.
Tomorrow....various 'Heads of State' will give speech after speech about what that landing meant...of the courage that was shown on that day. Tomorrow.....various news organizations will drone on endlessly about what it means...and try and show, time after time, that the courage shown by those men, in attempting to defeat evil....somehow doesn't equate to the attempt we are now engaged in to defeat evil.
...and,somehow,tomorrow.....those various speeches...those various news organizations will miss the real meaning of D-Day...and how it ties into the War we are now engaged in.
...and,somehow....perhaps foreordained....they will miss the true meaning of that day.
=====================================
".....But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have hallowed it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
It is rather for us the living, we here be dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."
Abraham Lincoln
========================
I believe that Ronald Reagan understood this simple salient fact.
That in order to honour those Americans who have gone on before....we must continue the fight egainst evil...against the forces that would enslave other human beings.
Ronald Reagan (perhaps better than anyone of his time) understood this when he stood eye to eye with the Soviet Union....and they blinked first. He took simple American values....faith...honesty....charity....Freedom....and used them to change the world......much as those men who stormed ashore at Normandy did.
Much as American Soldiers are now doing in Afghanistan....and Iraq.
We are in the midst of a War. A war against an evil that rivals that of Nazi Germany....of the Soviet Union. An evil that thinks nothing of killing innocent women.....and small children ...in an attempt to further their political ends. In an attempt at reducing the rest of the world into slavery....of eliminating Freedom...and replacing it with tyranny.
The evil that was Nazi Germany....was torn down and destroyed by soldiers of the Free World.
The evil that was the Soviet Union....was torn down and destroyed by the iron will of Ronald Reagan..(backed up the soldiers of the Free World).
...and the evil that is before us now....is being destroyed by the soldiers of the Free World....and backed up by the iron will of President Bush.
=======================================================
"You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on Earth, or we will sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness."
Ronald Reagan
===========================
God Bless the United States of America....the last BEST hope of man on Earth.
redrock
Today we lost a great man, for those of us who were fortunate enough to witness this great President while he was in office........... WE WILL NEVER FORGET HIM
God Bless Ronald Reagan
You and I have a rendezvous with destiny.
He participated in the jump with the men who parachuted onto the beach at Normandy today.
He is a Viet Nam Veteran, and he loves America. He told me that this is something he has wanted to do for years. Today, his dream is coming true!
Thank you FRiend for your service to America, then and now. I'm sure you have made today memorable for all of those who attended this celebration! God Bless you, and God Bless all of our veterans! I hope you don't mind me ringing your bell a little. LOL You can ring it again when you get back. :-)
"He participated in the jump with the men who parachuted onto the beach at Normandy today."
God bless Ronald Reagan.
May he rest in peace.
Ronald Reagan with his
older brother Neil Reagan.
circa 1912.
redrock
redrock
Ronald Reagan, son Ron, Mrs. Reagan and daughter Patti
outside their Pacific Palisades home in California. 1960.
I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still.
And how stand the city on this winter night? More prosperous, more secure, and happier than it was eight years ago. But more than that; after two hundred years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And she's still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home.
We've done our part. And as I walk off into the city streets, a final word to the men and women of the Reagan revolution, the men and women across America who for eight years did the work that brought America back. My friends: We did it. We weren't just marking time. We made a difference. We made the city stronger. We made the city freer, and we left her in good hands. All in all, not bad, not bad at all.
And so, good-bye, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.
January 11, 1989
He died at 1600 EST. That would have made it about 2000 or 2100 in France (Can't remember whether it is a 4 or 5 hour difference).
Thanks for the clarification.
I'm pretty sure he told me they were jumping onto the beach. Perhaps that's where all of the activities are being held because of security concerns, etc. I'll have to ask him when he returns.
I was just listening to Mr. Reagan on Cspan from a speech at Oxford in 1992. He was talking about the 700,000 people in the Sudan that had been slaughtered as the UN and world ignored it.
We've not learned much have we, redrock?
Two things stand out in my mind about Pres. Reagan. We were driving back from LA, in Sacramento, when the news came over the radio that he had been shot and I thought...Oh, no, not again.
He was such an inspiration through that recovery and how the Brady's did not learn from him is a mystery.
When he was running for re-election in 1984, he visited Medford at the airport. I left work to see him, there were very few people there and you could hardly notice the secret service. Well, the chamber of commerce had the Medford "huggy bear" in full costume. The "bear" jumped on the stage to hug Pres. Reagan. He looked at the thing and was polite, but somewhat taken aback by a costumed bear rushing into his space. He showed his usual class, which was always apparent, whether his surroundings displayed class at all.
I hope the liberals take the time to just shut up if they can't say something decent about this man.
Wow...that is so very KEWL. Come home safe, Euro-American Scum, we don't have many like you to spare.
If Ike was to drop paratroopers on the beach, he could have adjusted them a 100 yards further back and saved the Rangers from having to scale those cliffs under fire.
Bump...
I don't know if it made it onto national TV news coverage...but the local
Los Angeles news coverage of the impromptu crowd that gathered outside the
Bel-Air Reagan residence to pay their respects was quite "diverse".
I'm sure that left a few Los Angeles-area Democrats scratching their heads and
speculating that these "people of color" who appeared of their own good motive must
surely have been "paid mourners".
That probably would have saved many lives. Unfortunately, he didn't know then what we know now.
God Bless Ronald Reagan ... we are all so fortunate to have been graced with his presence among us.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
