40th Anniversary of D-Day (reagan speech from 1984)

Reagan2000 website ^ | 1984 | Ronald Reagan

[anncoulteriscool]

I did not see any D-day related articles so I thought i'd post this. God bless.

[KC_Conspirator]

I personally enojy the "These are the boys of Pont du Hoc.." speech he gave in Normandy.

President Reagan's Speech at Pointe de Hoc, Normandy

We're here to mark that day in history when the Allied peoples 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 forty 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.

The Rangers looked up and saw the enemy soldiers -- at the edge of the cliffs shooting down at them with machine-guns and throwing grenades. And the American Rangers began to climb. They shot rope ladders over the face of these cliffs and began to pull themselves up. When one Ranger fell, another would take his place. When one rope was cut, a Ranger would grab another and begin his climb again. They climbed, shot back, and held their footing. Soon, one by one, the Rangers pulled themselves over the top, and in seizing the firm land at the top of these cliffs, they began to seize back the continent of Europe. Two hundred and twenty-five came here. After two days of fighting only ninety could still bear arms.

Behind me is a memorial that symbolizes the Ranger daggers that were thrust into the top of these cliffs. And before me are the men who put them there.

These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war.

Gentlemen, I look at you and I think of the words of Stephen Spender's poem. You are men who in your 'lives fought for life...and left the vivid air signed with your honor'...

Forty summers have passed since the battle that you fought here. You were young the day you took these cliffs; some of you were hardly more than boys, with the deepest joys of life before you. Yet you risked everything here. Why? Why did you do it? What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these cliffs? What inspired all the men of the armies that met here? We look at you, and somehow we know the answer. It was faith, and belief; it was loyalty and love.

The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead or on the next. It was the deep knowledge -- and pray God we have not lost it -- that there is a profound moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt.

You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One's country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you.

Ronald Reagan -- Pointe de Hoc, Normandy, June 6, 1984 (The 40th anniversary of D-Day)

[Reagan79]

Another great speech from the Gipper. A classic speech that can still bring tears to my eyes.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks for the D-Day post.

[wbill]

I'm interested to see if Bush can top this in '04.

Anything has got to be better than Clinton in '94. Talk about a contrived, hypocritical, embarrassing situation. Made me ashamed that my country voted for him.

[SAMWolf]

Two great Reagan Speeches on one thread.

[Soaring Feather]

You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One's country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you.

Ronald Reagan -- Pointe de Hoc, Normandy, June 6, 1984 (The 40th anniversary of D-Day)

A great President Ronald Reagan! We are a blessed nation to have at this hour as Commander-in-Chief President George W. Bush.

Both these articles bring tears to my eyes. Thank you for posting them.

Thank you SAM for the ping.

[snippy_about_it]

Wonderful! Thanks for the ping.

[cgk]

Thank you for posting this great speech today, the anniversary of D-Day.

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on or off this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

[Sparta]

A lot of good historical speeches about D-Day here.

If you want on or off the Western Civilization Military History ping list, let me know.

[facedown]

bump

[VOA]

bump

[TomServo]

Thanks for the post. I happened to know a gentleman that survived both D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge. Thanks Mr. Anderson and may your Blessed Soul rest in peace, Sir..!

[sistergoldenhair]

Thanks for the ping.

[Ready4Freddy]

Called my Uncle today to thank him for his service and sacrifice.

He went in June 6 afternoon, after Omaha had been secured. He didn't make it to the Battle of the Bulge, tho, his unit ran into a Panzer division outside of Paris (as they were waiting for the AEF to find a frenchy to lead the troops in). Only survivor of the bunch, lost an arm and came home.

[andysandmikesmom]

My husbands father was one of the first to land on Normandy...almost everyone in his unit was killed or died later from their injuries there...he, tho only slightly physically wounded, could not cope with seeing all that he saw and experienced that day...when he was finally found, he was clearly not in his right mind, and was sent back to the states, where he spent the next 7 yrs of his life, in a military hospital, trying to treat his mental problem...

He never fully recovered...he was able to leave the hospital, get a job, and become a self supporting man...but his wife left him, and ran off with another man...she even left their small baby(my husband) behind...my husband wound up being raised by his dads parents...

For the rest of his life, he was haunted by his experiences at Normandy, on that day....some might say he was weak to succumb mentally, but there you have it...often he said, his life was such a living hell, always reliving what had happened that day, that it would have been better for him, if he had died there on the beach that day...

So for some, altho Normandy has been over for so many years, for others, its as real as if it had happened yesterday....

My husband and I presented this man with his first grandson, who ironically was born on June 6th....we always called him the D-Day kid...

My husbands father died a few years ago, and in a way, his death, tho sad, brought a small bit of solace to my husband, to realize that his dad finally find some bit of peace, that he had been looking for so many years...

[Mr. Silverback]

They were heroes. Thank you for posting this.

[Mr. Silverback]

Do me a favor? Next time you talk to your uncle, thank him from me and my kids. Lord knows what this world would be like if the men who fought that war for us were less than the absolute wonders they were.