pockets the book that brought into the world this message, greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. america honors all the liberators who fought here in the noblest of causes, and america would do it again for our friends. may god bless you. [applause] ■wo were lost

on d-day. president clinton: mr. dawson, you did your men proud today. general shalikashvili, mr. conkrite, chaplain, distinguished leaders of our government, members of congress, members of the armed services, our hosts from france, and most of all, our veterans, their families and their friends. in these last days of ceremonies, we have heard wonderful words of tribute. now we come to this hallowed place that speaks, more than

anything else, in silence. here on this quiet plateau, on this small piece of american soil, we honor those who gave their lives for us 50 crowded years ago. today the beaches of normandy are calm. if you walk these shores on a summer's day, all you might hear is the laughter of children playing on the sand, or the cry of sea gulls overhead, or perhaps the ringing of a distant church bell. the simple sounds of freedom barely breaking the silence. peaceful sounds. ordinary sounds. but june 6, 1944 was the least ordinary day of the 20th century.

on that chill dawn, these beaches echoed with the sounds of staccato gunfire, the roar of aircraft, the thunder of bombardment. and through the wind and the waves came the soldiers, out of their landing craft and into the water, away from their youth and toward a savage place many of them would, sadly, never leave. they had come to free a continent -- the americans, the british, the canadian, the poles, the french resistance, the norwegians and others. they had all come to stop one of the greatest forces of evil the world has ever known. as news of the invasion broke, back home in america, people held their breath. in boston, commuters stood reading the news on the electric sign at south station; in new york, the statue of liberty, its torch blacked out since pearl harbor, was lit at sunset for 15 minutes; and in newcastle,

pennsylvania, a young mother poline elliot wrote to her husband, frank, a corporal in the army, "d-day has arrived. the first thought of all of us was a prayer." below us are the beaches where corporal elliot's battalion and so many other american landed -- omaha and utah, proud names from america's heartland, part of the biggest gamble of the war, the greatest crusade, yes, the longest day. during those first hours on bloody omaha nothing seemed to go right. landing craft were ripped apart by mines and shells, tanks sent to protect them had sunk, drowning their crews; enemy fire raked the invaders as they stepped into chest-high water and waded past the floating bodies of their comrades. and as the stunned survivors of the first wave huddled behind

the seawall, it seemed the invasion might fail. hitler and his followers had bet on it. they were sure the allied soldiers were soft, weakened by liberty and leisure, by the mingling of races and religion. they were sure their totalitarian youth had more discipline and zeal. but then something happened. although many of the american troops found themselves without officers on unfamiliar ground next to soldiers they didn't know, one by one they got up. they inched forward and together, in groups of threes and fives and tens, the sons of democracy improvised and mounted their own attacks. at that exact moment, on these beaches, the forces of freedom turned the tide of the 20th century.

these soldiers knew that staying put meant certain death. but they were also driven by the voice of free will and responsibility nurtured in sunday schools, town halls and sandlot ball games -- the voice that told them to stand up and move forward, saying, "you can do it. and if you don't no one else will." and as captain joe dawson led his company up this bluff, and as others followed his lead, they secured a foothold for freedom. today, many of them are here among us. oh, they may walk with a little less spring in their step, and their ranks are growing thinner, but let us never forget, when they were young, these men saved the world. [applause]

let us now ask them all the veterans of the normandy campaign to stand if they can and be recognized. [applause] the freedom they fought for was no abstract concept. it was thetuff of their daily lives. listen to what frank elliott written to his wife from the embarkation point. i ms. hamburgers at coney island. american beer.

american shows. and american girls. pauline elliott wrote back that she and their one-year-old daughter listened on the radio. i hope and pray she will never remember any of this. but only the happiness of the hours i will follow her daddy homecoming. home from that work to build of the nation and enjoy life sweet pleasures. but on this field there. are 9,386 who did not, 33 pairs of brothers, a father and his son. 11 men from tiny bedford, virginia, and corporal frank

elliot, killed near these bluffs by a german shell on d-day. they were the fathers we never knew, the uncles we never met, the friends who never returned, the heroes we can never repay. they gave us our world. and those simple sounds of freedom we hear today are their voices speaking to us across the years. at this place, let us honor all the americans who lost their lives in world war ii. let us remember, as well, that over 40 million human beings from every side perished, soldiers on the field of battle, jews in the ghettos and death. -- death camps, civilians ravaged by shell fire and famine. may god give rest to all their souls. years later, what a different 50 world we live in. ■:germany, japan, and italy,

liberated by our victory, now stand among our closest allies and the staunchest defenders of freedom. russia, decimated during the war and frozen afterward in communism and cold war, has bee8 reborn in democracy. and as freedom rings from prague to kiev, the liberation of this continent is nearly complete. now the question falls to our generation, how will we build upon the sacrifice of d-day's heroes? like the soldiers of omaha beach, we cannot stand still. we cannot stay safe by doing so. avoiding today's problems would be our own generation's appeasements. for just as freedom has a price, it also has a purpose, and its name is progress. today, our mission is to expand freedom's reach forward; to test

the full potential of each of our own citizens; to strengthen our families, our faith, and our communities; to fight indifference and intolerance; to keep our nation strong; and to light the lives of those still dwelling in the darkness of undemocratic rule. our parents did that and more; we must do nothing less. they struggled in war so that we might strive in peace. we know that progress is not inevitable. but neither was victory upon these beaches. now, as then, the inner voice tells us to stand up and move forward. now, as then, free people must choose. 50 years ago, the first allied soldiers to land here in normandy came not from the sea but from the sky. they were called pathfinders, the first ratroopers to make

the jump. deep in the dark light beacons for the airborne assaults that would soon follow. now, near the dawn of a new century, the job of lighting those beacons falls to our hands. to you who brought us here, i promise we will be the new pathfinders, for we are the children of your sacrifice. thank you, and god bless you all. [applause]