... over the course of 1943 and in

"44. you see a ramp up of military might, not just in terms of supplies, but boots on the ground. by 1944, the united states has taken a preponderant position in the western theatre as those years go by, and it changes. you know, we are now at a point end of "43/"44 where people recognise that the soviet union have been recognised. >> to go to a force of over 12 million under arms in a short time frame, it's roman legion-like in terms of the job in order to get that done, and fighting a war on two fronts. >> how were they able to ramp up. >> it's roosevelt. >> absolutely, franklin roosevelt... >> i'll ask you to hold that thought.

we'll see if francis hollande has something to say. [ speaking foreign language ] . >> i don't speak french and i don't think there's an english translation yet. let's go back in there when there's a translation. continue the thought, how they ramped up the military? >> it's said that the new deal didn't work. world war ii is the new deal on steroid. the american government was not used to the deficit spending. when it came to national survival, there was no prohibition. over 50% of the gross domestic product was government spending, investing huge amounts of money into our industry and the expansion, and achieved production levels that boggled

the imagination. - 50,000 planes a year and so forth. it's an under appreciated story in the second world war. >> u.s. citizens had war bonds, rationing - everyone was all in. that's a question you ask. who goes to war, the country or the military. back then the country went to war. >> as we looked at the french president speaking, the debt of gratitude that the nation of france owes to the united states and the brits, how does that steep into french culture, and what's the feeling you get when you talk to people about the invasion of normandy. the people of france or europe have not forgotten what the canadians and americans did. as i said earlier, it's taut in the schools. it is very much a part of their every day lives. and you know, as mike said, wo

was a military war. we were all in this together. so, too, were the people of europe. we worked though this toofght sadly it's coming -- together. sadly it's coming to an end. >> is to my perception or did things seem simpler, great powers banded together and faced each other. >> both sides. they took advantage of not having the same forces of media. they had time to let things stew. they made decisions in a longated time frame, which i thing allowed a better thought process. >> that is true. there were complicated issues. let's not kid ourselves. there were tensions between the

brits and the americans over post war strategy and policies, concerns about what would happen with the advance of stalin. these were under the surface. mike is correct. you didn't have this 24/7 news cycle that we have. let's be fair, roosevelt held two press conferences. 997 press conferences over the course of 12 years. he was open to the press, knave a press conference at 4 o'clock on june 6, 1944. >> let's listen to francis hollande speak. we have the english translegs up. let's watch and listen. >> translation: what we see today, the beach we see, were covered with the spray of the landing crafts. the sea was red with the blood of the first fighters. what did they thing the young

20-year-old soldiers, faced with fear. they thought, no doubt of their deer mothers, of their worried fathers, of their beloved ones so far away. of their childhood, their lives, so short at which the horizon was blurred by war. yet the young people in the middle of this hell of steal and fire did not hesitate for a second. they went forward, forward on the soil of france, dodging bullets and shells. they advanced, risking their lives to fight a diabolical regime. they went forward to defend a nobel cause. they went forward, yes, to free us, to finally free us.

among them appeared the members of the battalion keifer. not many. 177 french soldiers. 177 who allowed to free france, that were led by phillippe kieffa and wearing the british uniform. they formed the fourth commander afloat, of which 144 would die or be injured. the numbers were small, but their value was high. further along much more numerous landed the infantry of the third infantry division of general dempsey who was in charge of

capturing this beach, sword beach as it was named in operation overload. further on it was canadian troops west between. we had the american forces under bradley. who was doing to pay a heavy price in the landing at omaha beach. general bradley said that all those who had one day set foot on french soil, on the beach of omaha were heroes, yes. yes, they were heroes, all of them. all those that went forward. continued to go forward in the name of our freedom. we are in normandy, the battle

that took place throughout the summer of 1944, was the greatest air, navy, war, 10,000 plains, 140,000 soldiers, british, canadian, american. on 6 june. 3,000 of them died. 3,000. but the soldiers had succeeded. in the vital task of landing on french soil, and on 6 june they had started to free france, and as the sun set. aluminous light rose throughout europe and on the butches of

normandy. we have the memory of a clash, an uncertain conflict, an unsighted conflict. on the beaches of normandy, quiet beaches, we have the soul of the fighters who gave their lives. on these beaches, the quiet beaches. blows, whatever the weather, of the season. freedom. freedom continues to blow today. that is why i wish the name of france - the beaches of the d-day landing are part of u.n.e.s.c.o. because here this

is a worldwide heritage of humanity. it will recall the sacred nature of this site to preserve it for all time and above all to welcome all generations who will come to this site. when they will wish to understand will want to see where the fate of mankind took place on 6 june 1944. the veterans, the survivors. they are here today with us at the very place they landed 70 years ago, where they were parachuted - where they fought, where they where they were injured. i once, in the name of france,

were to greet brotherly all those present here today. thank you. thank you for being present in the summer of 1944. thank you for still being here, 6 june 2014, and you will always be here present in your spirit, on the beaches of the d-day landing. i wish to express my deprad attitude to all -- gratitude to all the fighters who are no longer british, canadian, american, new zealander, polish - all the nationalities who took part as allies, all served them humanity, and if we could today live in peace, if we

can live in security. if we can live in sovereignty, protected by the laws that we requested, it is thanks to these men who have given their lives and i state before the speech the recognition, the gratitude of the french republic will be eternal. by coming here today, we are all of us, regardless of our age, company, origins - we are taken by an emotion what conditions to strike one when we go from one place to the next, and sometimes from one cemetery to the next, is the courage of the soldiers who fought here. the courage of the paratroopers

who jumped during the night to prepare the offensive. the courage of the rangers who captured the point, the courage of the prish soldiers that silenced the battery. the courage of general norman koter who gathered his men on omaha beach. under german fire. the courage of all these young people that came from all over the years that concurred the beaches, the courage of the french fighters who facilitated the fighting and success, the courage of the forces answering the call of the general, the courage of normandy who suffered under the bombs, who incurred

heavy losses and did not know they needed to share their joy and suffering. the pain of having lost loved one, the joy of having reconcerned their freedom. i wish to greet the courage of the red army who far away faced with 150 german divisions was capable of pushing them back, of fighting them, and once again, it will never be enough. i wish to underline the decisive contribution of the people of what we called - used to call the soviet union. these countries also, we have the duty to recognise what they have done for our own freedom, for victory against naziism.

and finally i wish to great the courage of the germans, lead into a war which was not theirs, which should not have been theirs, and today we greet all the victims of naasism. this great fight to repeat the expression of general eisenhower records a simple reality, truth, which must always be born in mind in all circumstances. the freedom is a struggle, it's not something obvious as some may believe within our nations who believe that freedom is like the air that we breath.

it comes naturally, and that we don't even need to give it a second thought. yet freedom is always a struggle. it is never acquired. there are always men and women who must rise up to defend it, 70 years after d-day. the freedom is still threatened in too many countries throughout the world. here on 6 june, on the popes of normandy, 70 years ago the democracies had united to defend a just cause, and the cause is our own today. it is no longer the allies who must rise to take it back from those who threaten us it is the united nations who have the

responsibility of peace, but the u.n., united nations must face up to the mission that was given to them after the end of the war, and to ensure selective security. i have talked about courage. the courage of the combatants of the fighters, the resist arranges the courage of the population. courage and war. but the courage in peace is just as vital. and necessary. the soldiers who landed here 70 years ago - what pushed them. their patriotic duty - yes, no doubt, but through an idea, an idea which they all shared. regardless of their nationality. by lapping here -- landing here on these beaches, they had a dream - a dream which seemed in

excess unobtainable in 1944. which was lit up their conscious possess. what was the dream? it was the promise of a world delivered from tyranny, the dream of a fairer society, a brotherly society. this ambition had been formulated two years earlier by the two leaders who decided onoperation overlord, on a ship anchored in the middle of the ocean. they wrote the atlantic charter and it recalls the object of the war to free europe, obtain peace and conquer naziism. at the same time it asserted the

will to achieve, in all nations a complete collaboration in order to ensure for everyone progress and - social progress on 5 may 1944. a month before the d-day landings, the allies adopted a declaration. the declaration of philadelphia, specifying that all human beings have the right to pursue progress, spiritual, in dignity and yal chances. this message is with us today. the heroic campaign led here precisely had the desire to put an end that was tormenting humanity, misery, oppression,

injustice, everything that leads to war. well, ladies and gentlemen, here, gathered heads of state, heads of government, elected. veterans. population. yes, we still have our duty. to preserve the legacy that was left to us. the duty to make the peoples of europe for those - to make them progress, our duty to strengthen the role the united nations, our duty everywhere to protect the rights of man, the dignity of women who are still in too many places throughout the world enslaved which affects us all. it is also our duty to ensure peace everywhere, and if there has been this gathering of heads

of state and government, it is also to serve peace and where it is threatened, to find solutions and results so that the conflict does not need to war. our duty is to fight against fan at hissism, extremists, nationalists. it is up to us, regardless of our positions. it is up to demonstrate the same audacity and courage and consciousness, the same desire as those who came on the beaches before us. today the danger is terrorism, crimes against humanity, but it is terrible dangers that we have to face throughout humanitarian

crisis. the dangers of climate warming, misery, and mass unemployment. it's not comparable, but it is something which can threaten cohesion and sometimes lead to conflict. on 6 june, it not a day like any other. it is not simply the longest day of days, it's the day when the memory of the dead. it's remembered by all us representatives of the united countries, to keep the written promise with the blood of those who fought, and to be loyal to their sacrifice by building in their name, and the name of future generations, a fairer world and a more human world,

yes. i pay my respects to those who died. i pay homage to the veterans and say to the heads of deposit and head of state - my grat attitudes to see them gathered here, and to say to this that what awaits us is more than a duty and obligation to the world, and a duty for all those who have fought on these beaches and who today know in their hearts that we are their inheritors. thank you very much. >> president francis hollande in the speech describing the lapped as a world ride land of heritage, saying it was a sacred site, normandy, and the fate of

mankind took place there. i liked how he talked about the need for unity, and said maybe we could learn the lessons from d-day and normandy to tackle the problems that divide us today. he mentioned climate change. nonetheless that is the official welcoming speech from francis hollande. and there you see him walking back across the beach to the stand. what do you think? >> i think this was an opportunity for the french leader to speak to the world about counter threats about world peace. which he did. he used world war ii and the sacrifices made as a lense in which to look at the conflict faced today. i want to bring in our guest after the break to talk about the legacy and world war ii. when we come back from a break. 70 years ago today, 6.20. allied landing craft approached

the beach. 6:30am landing craft tank 5:35, landing on omaha. eight infantry land at utah beach.

welcome back to al jazeera america's live coverage of the 70th anniversary of d-day. david shuster, and stephanie sy. you are looking at pictures of the memorial, the remembrance,

and a flyover. francis hollande spoke for about 25 minutes. more all of you wondering - there's ceremonial shots - about the health of whether it's the queen who is 88 or veterans in their '90s, sitting in the beach. it's 77 degrees, 50% humidity, and 17 mile per hour preez coming in from the -- breeze coming in from the ocean. >> and they are under the shade. >> i want to bring in our guest here to talk about what we are seeing here on the screen. they've been doing re-enactments on the beach for the last couple of days. what were we seeing there in the last pictures? >> i think they are trying to replicate the number of people on the beaches in the first few days. especially this one in particular. youth of different countries likely for the shot.

>> they have the inner map showing the english channels and the continent of europe and people in the boot of egypt. they have people illustrating the various soldiers, and where they were positioned during the war. i want to bring in dana lewis who was there. first of all, any thoughts as you lined to the french president and how what he says tied in with what you have been seeing over the past couple of days? >> well, i think, you know, he echoed the remarks made at omaha beach and the american cemetery. dam -- deep gratitude to the americans and the price paid. every man, no matter what he did and the price he paid. it's interesting to see some of

the choreography. president obama walked in, and you could hear a bit of applause. we could hear it from here, and vladimir putin walked in. i may be wrong, but i didn't hear the same reception. it is ironic given the fact that despite the back curtain of politics pause of what is taking place, because of ukraine, what is seen as russian aggression in crimea and eastern ukraine, that we have to recognise that russia played a tremendous part in this 2-front war which took place. stalin met with churchill and roosevelt. and they agreed to open up the 2-front war. they were welcoming the americans and british allies to go forward. operation overlord. this is while the russians took the brunt of the german army in the east. you take a look at the earlier

estimates. there was 20 million killed. they are talking about 30 million killed. if you count civilians and members of the military. the numbers are hard to digest by anyone, and the suffering that took place in lenin grad. there's background politics taking place, i think putin played honour to the country. they were part of the allies as they pushed towards normandy. president obama met with vladimir putin, and they spoke for 10-15 minutes, a substantial period of time. we are waiting.

also vladimir putin met with the president of ukraine. there was a short meeting. a photo op with angela merkel, the german leader in attendance. they had a sideline meeting and spoke for 10-15 minutes. reuters reported, quoting a french official that they talked about a ceasefire in ukraine, and the necessity of a recognition of the election of petro porashenko, the new president of ukraine. that has not been confirmed independently by the russians by this point. that was a reuters report quoting a french official. the french foreign ministry says that the meeting took place in the last 10-15 minutes. they had time to look at the substance. >> we are looking at what amounts to a dance on the gint map. the french -- giant map.

the french have their own way of marking the event. behind them is a movie in coordination, and it's a picture of the auschwitz. let's listen in, it's in french, but let's listen to the film. lion [ speaking in french ] >> can we talk about the contents of d -- context of d-day in the great war, how

quickly did the tide turn? >> there was a break out. it took time, i think the allies wanted to go faster than speb. it took about 6 weeks before. where they were able to move and liberate paris by the end of the summer. >> 6 weeks. >> it was slow going. initially. they couldn't break through. they had to ultimately bring in naval gun fire. as mike said. they landed in southern prans -- in france. >> there was a conflict with operation markets garden. the push was they should go berlin, monte thought we should

head due north, "a bridge too far", the movie was after that. an airborne operation, unfortunately, in usterbech was a failure. >> we talk about the battle of normandy, it's a reference to the three months that follow, when 50,000 were killed. we look at the pictures of the french theatrical representation of what was going on at the time. the death camps, the battles in israel and western france, they fought village to village. >> we called them campaigns, they don't have the conventional warfare. the period of the war stopped - it foves to the next one. >> can we talk about the significance of general eisenhower and his character to lead. >> he's a west point graduate and the right guy to be a

coalition builder. their personalities, from general paton. churchill. from my perspective - it's the right guy at the right time. they have been blessed. >> roosevelt had a good deal to do with that, reaching down the ranks to bring general marshall in as chief of staff. he knew the officers. of course, there was great disappointment on the part of general marshall, hoping to be the supreme allied commander. roosevelt didn't think he would sleep without general washington by his side. the job went to eisenhower, he had the skills and was a diplomatic soldier. >> we can't forget in 1944 roosevelt was not facing a guarantee for re-election. a lot thought if this invasion failed, if d-day had not gone as

it had, roosevelt may have lost the election. >> it's possible. >> who are the unsung heroes in the war. >> we were talking about teddy roosevelt junior. the son of american oil groups. he's a one-star general. he had a heart ailment. he was able to leave. motivate troops and get them off the beach. >> weren't there thousands of people during the drills leading up to d-day that died. >> absolutely. the training exercises were difficult and dangerous. same in scotland, where they were practicing a landing and german you boats slipped in and slaughtered several hundred americans. we shouldn't forget the allied air tom c. we see them as demramerrous.

in the month prior to d-day, massive tactical operation, the best air campaign, and over 12,000 air men lost their lives. >> that was in the pacific. another thing i've heard is the america industrial productivity at the time, and how that was determined in the victory. so many came to play. clearly america was at war, and not just the military. >> president obama made reference to his grandmother and grandfather. we were all in, as mike said earlier. this was an everywhere. >> originally they were going to invade normandy six months earlier, and i believe it was eisenhower that said we need

more divisions and troops. >> the other thing is we fought a war of deception. the germans misled who they thought was leading. we set up an entire despeption plan. we created a plan, creating false radio transmissions, give the impression... >> the inflatable tanks and jeeps, aircraft would thing they saw them. >> decoys. >> exactly. >> hitler, in particular kept his divisions to the north and not have them redeployed. there's no way the americans would have the dumpy officer lead the invasion. >> imagine that hitler took the advice of his generals and positioned some of the panzas closer to normandy. how might this battle have been different? >> first and foremost it may not

have happened on june 6th. the planners were meticulous to attacking on overwhelming force where we could assure victory. had that not happened, they had to fight the battle on the east and the west. we may have waited three or four months. the weather was a critical factor. if they waited two weeks, there was a massive storm. there was so many things here. >> as it was, the sailors landed. a lot of them were sea sick. getting the fire as soon as you land on the beach and you are sea sick. we'll take a break. continuing coverage. commemoration of the 70th anniversary of d-day. you are seeing a theatrical representation of the event 70 years ago and a film. we'll leave you with the time line.

70 years ago 7:25, h hour for sword beach, british third gigs begins to land. 8am, 3rd canadian division lands at juno beach

70 years ago today 156,000 troops invaded france along a 50 mile stretch of beach, normandy. at 8:30 landing craft and tank brought armour to omaha, where the fiercest fighting took place. >> 9am on the time line second ranger battalion soldiers defended for the rest of the day. welcome back to the coverage. 70th anniversary ceremonies, joining us to provide context. mike lyons retired army major at

the truman institute, and the coeditor of t coedit coeditor of a book. good morning, thank you so much for sticking with us here. one of the interesting things that francis hollande, the french president, brought up in his speech is international unity in the face of conflict. the united nations - you were saying, mike - david - was formed out of the alliance. >> that's right. in the weeks after pearl harbor was attacked winston churchill came over from the white house. they had to formulate the war-time alliance. fran line roosevelt wanted to call it the united nations. they signed the united nations charter and declaration on

january 1st, 1942, which had the four powers. churchill wanted to put the british empire and include the british empire under the rubric of great britain, roosevelt wanted each country lifted alphabetically. during the war americans don't realise this, but it was united nations forces attack here, attack there. then they talked about a united nations organization that came out of the war time alliance and in late "43 roosevelt thought the best name would be the united nations. >> as we continue to watch the theatrical dance over a map of europe, they showed the iconic grainy black and white clip. the germans had pylons and till

boxes, they knew something was coming, but not where. what was it about omaha that made this so deadly and devastating. >> the air power was not able to soften up the environment before the instrument got there. it was well defended in layers. there was barbed wire, landmines - they had to fight through the manmade option, and after being exhausted, fight through a german infantry platoon, having the fire take place. that was a great challenge. >> a soldier or sailor landing on the beach, what would have been the risk from the air or land. >> it was the first challenge we had to get off the boat. get to the beach, find the unit. have everything. you seen in pictures weapons were in plastic, they were afraid they'd be waterlogged or

if they were going to work. there was so many forces. >> were there giant aircast above. >> we had support yority. that was one thing i learned. i wasn't going to attack. >> we are looking at the dance representation of the challenge of a landing. this is a french dance troop trying to recreate through theatrics and dance. >> i imagine you can hear the guns fired there and the music. what is it like where you are? >> well, we were listening to fireworks in the background. i can't help but thing that some of the veterans watching the ceremonies were flinching when the noises were going off in the background. that's one of the things when you talked to them, i asked if they were shot at and did they see bullets in front of you.

they said yes, but they didn't realise because the gun fire as muted compared to the thunderous sounds. you had incoming that was fired by battle ships, you know, half a mile and a mile off coast. american battleships - that thunderous sound as they took out the german guns before the americans and allies landed. they failed to do that because most of the guns were this places. people came to shore. they didn't know that bullets were hitting near them. they'd see dust or sand. the soldiers-at sea all night long in six foot swells and came in, most were sick and staggered out of the boats and some drowned with 100 pound packs on and can't get to the shore. yesterday i had an incredible experience to go up in a c 47 transport plane, one of the first planes in the first wave

in the early morning hours of d-day. on board was a pilot who flew in the aircraft and a paratrooper who jumped from it. let's listen to the story. >> reporter: bud rice said it was electric being in the cockpit, hands on the column of the c 37 that he flew in world war ii. a plane called "whiskey 7." >> you hoped to get through it. >> reporter: 70 years ago the mission over france was no joy ride. he helped to drop paratroopers behind enemy lines hours before the forces hit norm andy. >> you looked down in the water and saw the thousands of troops. we had to get ahead of them. >> reporter: the weather was daunting. >> you were worried about midair

collisions, which happened. >> reporter: "whiskey 7" crossed normandy at 1:20. 800 other aircraft with it, and that's when all hell broke loose. some of the aircrafts were flaming fireballs with paratroops on board. leslie cru. >> -- cruise was on the same plane. >> it came down like a tonne much bricks. and it was like this, everything off as quick as i could, get the rifle out. >> paratroopers had to hurry to secure towns and vital supply roots. >> today a memorial hangs on the church where a u.s. paratrooper landed that night - two days already d-day cruise lost his friend richard vargas in a german artillery barrage.

>> shells came down around us. it missed me, and i thought it missed him too. >> i wept across the road. i -- went across the road and sat down and cried. that was in for that day. memories too clear for paratroopers and pilots on "whiskey 7", then and now. >> some of the veterans tell us when they were on the beach for days and days after, they were marshalling soldiers and beaches that you could see awash in the beach bodies, helmets, backbacks and bibles that soldiers carried to shore with them. >> live at sword beach. dana, thank you. we'll monitor the memorial, remembrance and theatrical dancers. thank you to both of our guests,

like lyons and david. >> thank you for watching the special coverage. i'm david shuster. >> i'm stephanie sy. i'll be back with a wrap up of the event in normandy. >> we commemorate victory, as proud of that victory as we are. we don't just hop our sacrifice. as grateful as the world is. we come to remember why america and our allies gave so much for the survival of liberty at this moment of maximum peril, the nations that knew the blinders of fear. none of that would have happened without the men willing to lay down their lives for people they had never met. and ideals they couldn't live without. whenever the world makes you

cynical, when of you doubt that courage and goodness is possible, stop and think of these men. these men waged war so we might know peace. they sacrificed so we might be free. they fought no hopes of a day we no longer needed to fight. we are grateful to them. >> what i admire so much about al jazeera america is that it is solely committed to journalism. >> you're not just giving the headlines, you're also not getting fluff. >> the gap between the rich and the poor is growing faster in san francisco. >> you're going to get something you're not going to get anywhere else, and you're going to get these in depth stories about

real people. >> as an unsecured creditor could receive just cents on the dollar. >> chronic homelessness has always been a challenge here in new orleans. >> we recently did a story about a mother who was worried about the air her children were breathing. >> this is not standard household dust. >> florida is an amazing place to work as a journalist. >> the rocky mountain west is really an extraordinary part of this country. >> i worked in nashville for six years, i know the stories that are important to people there. overcrowding is such a big issue at this school. >> people in the outer islands of alaska picking up tsunami trash, really committed to what they are doing, and they have a lot more work to do. if you really want to tell peoples' stories, you've got to go talk to the people. >> real reporting. >> real news. >> this. >> this. >> this, is what we do. >> al jazeera america. >> these protestors have decided that today they will be arrested >> these people have chased a president from power, they've torn down a state... >> what's clear is that people don't just need protection,

they need assistance. >> welcome to aljazeera america. i'm stephanie sy, and here are the stories we're following for you. veterans, dignitaries and world leaders pause to remember the courage and the sacrifice of the d-day invasion of france. >> whenever the world makes you cynical, stop and think of these men. stop and think of these men. >> president obama honoring the americans who landed in normandy 70 years ago. and behind the scenes,