loyal. and our children and their children will forever. and always be free. may god bless, our great veterans. may god bless, our allies. may god bless the of d-day and. may god bless america. thank you. thank you very much. the hour had nearly come monday,

june 5th, 1944. the evil, foolish third reich was devastated. the world. nazi germany had subjugated the once free nations of europe through brute force lies and twisted ideology of racial superiority. millions of -- murdered in the holocaust. millions of others killed by bombs, bullets, bloody warfare. hitler and those with him thought democracies were weak. that the future belonged to dictators. here on the coast of normandy, the battle between freedom and tyranny would be joined here. on that june morning, the testing was at hand. president macron. mrs. macron and secretary

austin, secretary blinken. distinguished guests. most of all are honored veterans who met that test today. just a test of age to that moment. 80 years ago, 80 years ago today. on behalf of the american people as commander in chief, it's the highest honor to be able to salute you here in normandy once more. all of you. god love you. winston churchill called what happened here? quote, the greatest, most complicated operation ever. and of, quote, after years of planning, operation overlord was ready to launch just as soon as the weather turned across the

choppy and choppy english channel, the supreme commander of the allies, dwight d eisenhower, awaited the largest forest ever of its kind, built by 12 nations. men, guns, planes, naval craft of every description, waiting. the world. captive and free. waited. finally. eisenhower's forecasters said there is a window in the weather. it would open briefly on tuesday, the 6th of june. the general weighed the options and gave the order at dawn. the allies air strike, the great crusade to free europe from tyranny would begin. that night, general eisenhower drove to the english town of newburgh to visit paratroopers

of 101st airborne. there were men from all over america who was estimated. that 80% of them would be killed. within hours, that was the estimate. but they were brave. their resolute. and they were ready. one soldier told general eisenhower, quote, don't worry, sir. sir, the 101st is on the job. everything will be taken care of. that's what he said. and because of their courage and their resolve and because the courage and resolve of their allies, it was taken care of. from the sea and sky, nearly 160,000 allied troops descended on normandy, many to state the obvious never came home. many survived that longer stay.

kept on fighting for months until victory was finally won. in a few notable band of brothers. our heroes today can of plane smith is here and on that day under heavy artillery fire, he operated a range finder and radar on the first american ship to arrive at normandy's coast, providing direct gunfire, support for the rangers, scaling the cliffs. a point doc on their daring mission to take out the german batteries. bob gibson is here. he landed on utah beach about 10 hours after the invasion began. bullets flying everywhere. tracers lighting up the sky. bob drove and m4 tractor with an aircraft gun mounted on top, providing critical protection for the infantry against the german air force. on that day and for many days

after, he continued, ben miller is here, a medic with the 82nd airborne. at 3 a.m. on june 6th, he and 13 other medics from all over the channel in a rickety glider. its wings were ripped off by giant poles and the germans buried halfway in the ground to stop them from landing. they crashed, but they survived and they did their duty, dragging injured soldiers to safety, treating wounds, saving lives. while the battle raged. every soldier who stormed the beach, who dropped by parachute or landed by glider, every sailor who manned the thousands of ships and landing craft, every aviator to destroy german controlled airfields, bridges and railroads, all all were backed by other brave americans,

including hundreds of thousands of people of color and women who courageously served despite unjust limitation on what they could do for their nation. lewis brown is here, part of the red ball express. a truck convoy made of mostly african-american drivers. they led in an armani in the wake of d-day. they rushed supplies to the rapidly advancing front lines. when he would have is here members of the legendary tuskegee airmen who flew over 15,000 sorties during the war. marjorie stone is here. she enlisted in the women's branch of the naval reserve, became an aircraft, began and spent the war keeping american planes and pilots in the air. there is has always been the story of america. just walk the rows of the cemetery as i have.

nearly 10,000 heroes buried side by side. officers and enlisted immigrants and native born. different races, different faiths. but all americans all serve with honor. when america and the world needed the most, millions back home did their part as well. from coast to coast, americans found countless ways to pitch in. they understood our democracy only as strong as all of us make it together. the manafort here became heroes, not because they they're the strongest or toughest or fiercest, although they were, but because they're given another day. this mission, knowing. every one of them knew the probability of dying was real. but they did it anyway. they knew beyond any doubt.

there are things that are worth fighting and dying for. freedom is worth it. democracy is worth it. america is worth it. the world is worth it. then. now and always. the war in europe didn't end for another 11 months, but here the tide turned in our favor. here. we proved the forces of liberty are stronger than the forces of conquest. here we proved that the ideals of our democracy are stronger than any army or combination of armies in the entire world. we prove something else here as well. the un breakable unity of the allies here with us, our men who served alongside the americans that day wearing different flags

in their arms, but fighting with the same courage for the same purpose. what the allies did together eight years ago far surpassed anything we could have done on our own. it was a powerful illustration of our alliances. real alliances make us stronger. a lesson that i pray we americans never forget. together, we won the war. we rebuild europe, including our former enemies. it was an investment in what became shared and a prosperous future. we established nato's the greatest military alliance in the history of the world. and over time, you got it. is now over time, we brought more nations in nato, the nato alliance, including the newest

members, finland and sweden. today, nato's stands at 32 countries strong and nato's more united than ever. and even more prepared to keep the peace, deter aggression, defend freedom all around the world. america has invested in our alliances and forge new ones, not simply out of altruism, but out of our own self-interest as well. america's unique ability to bring countries together is an undeniable source of our strength and our power. isolation was not the answer. 80 years ago, and is not the answer today. we know the dark forces that

these heroes fought against 80 years ago, they never fade. aggression and greed, the desire to dominate and control, to change borders by force. these are perennial in the struggle between a dictate, a ship and freedom is unending. here in europe. we see one stark example. ukraine has been invaded by a tyrant bent on domination. ukrainians are fighting with extraordinary courage, suffering great losses, but never backing down. they've inflicted on the russian aggression. they suffered tremendous losses in russia. the numbers are staggering. 350,000 russian troops dead or wounded. nearly 1 million people have

left russia because they can no longer see a future in russia. the united states and naito and a coalition of more than 50 countries standing strong with ukraine. we will not walk away. because if we do, ukraine will be subjugated and will not end. there. ukraine's neighbors will be threatened. all of europe will be threatened. and make no mistake, the autocrats of the world are watching closely to see what happens in ukraine, to see if we let this illegal aggression go unchecked. we cannot let that happen. to surrender to bullies, to bow down to dictators is simply unthinkable. we're ready to do that.

it means maybe forgetting what happened here on these hallowed beaches. make no mistake, we will not bow down. we will not forget. let me end with this. history tells us freedom is not free. if you want to know the price of freedom, come here to normandy. come to normandy and look. go to the other cemeteries in europe where our fallen heroes rest. go back home to arlington cemetery tomorrow. i will pay respects at point dock. go there as well. and remember the price of on check charities, the blood of the young and the brave in their generation. their hour of trial. the allied forces of d-day did their duty. now, the question for us is, in our our trial, will we do ours? we live in a time when democracy even more at risk across the world than they point since the

end of world war two, centuries, beaches were stormed in 1944. now we have to ask ourselves where we stand against tyranny, against evil. against crushing brutality of the iron fist. we stand for freedom. we demand democracy. we stand together. my answer is yes. it only can be yes. we're not far off from the time the last living voices, those who fought and bled on d-day will no longer be with us. so we have a special obligation. we cannot allow what happened here be lost in the silence of the years to come. we must remember. it must honor it and live it. we must remember the fact that they were heroes here. that day does not absolve us from what we have to do today. democracy is never guaranteed.

every generation must preserve it, defend it, and fight for it. that's the test of the ages. in memory of those who fought here, died here, literally save the world here. let us be worthy of their sacrifice. let us be the generation that when history is written about our time in ten, 20, 30, 58 years from now, it will be said when the moment came, we met the moment we stood strong. our alliances were made stronger. we saved democracy in our time as well. thank you very much. and may god bless you all. and may god protect our troops. thank you.