russell picket is the last known survivor of the legendary company a. y, believe it or not, he has returned once more to these shores to be with his comrades. private picket, you honor us all with your presence. [ cheers and applause ] >> tough guy. by the fourth week of august, paris was liberated. [ applause ] some who landed here pushed to the center of germany. some pushed open the gates of concentration camps to release jews who suffered the holocaust. others rested on this soil for eternity. before this place was consecrated to history the land was owned by a french farmer, a member of the french resistance. these were great people. these were strong and tough people. his wife waited out d-day in a nearby house, holding tight to their baby girl. the next day a soldier appeared. i'm an american, he said. i'm here to help. the french woman was overcome with emotion and cried. days later, she laid flowers on fresh american graves. today, her grand daughter stephanie serves as a guide at this cemetery. this week stephanie led 92-year-old marian wen of

russell picket is the last known survivor of the legendary company a, and today, believe it or not, he has returned once more to these shores to be with his comrades. private picket, you honor us all with your presence. [ applause ] [ applause ] >> tough guy. by the fourth week of august, paris was liberated. someer some t the gates of nazi concentration camps to free jews and others fail on fields of battle returning to rest on this sale for eternity, and before this place was consecrated to history the land was owned by a french farmer, a member of the french resistance, and these were great people, these were strong and tough people. his terrified wife waited out d-day in a nearby house holding tight to their little baby girl. the next day a soldier appeared. i'm an american, he said, i'm here to help. the french woman was overcome with emotion and cried. days later she laid flowers on fresh american graves. today her granddaughter, stephanie, serves as a guide at the cemetery, and this week stephanie led 90-year-old marion to see the grave of her brother, don, for the very first ti

. >> reporter: like 94-year-old russell picket, a private first class who was wounded in the first wave that landed on omaha beach. he would not be denied the acceptance to stand, and get the appreciation of the crowd. >> you are the pride of our nation. you are the glory of our republic. and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. >> reporter: the french president wasted no time expressing his own country's gratitude. >> we know what we owe, our freedom. on behalf of my nation, i want to say thank you. >> reporter: many of the veterans accepted the good wishes of both world leaders and their lives, before witnessing a military flyover and a 21-gun salute. among the returning veterans, 96-year-olds jake larsen, who was just 21 when he barely made it across the beach on june 6th, 1944. >> to feel that sand brings back so many memories. >> reporter: larsen is one of a dwindling number of surviving veterans, most in their 90s. he says he is the last man in his unit still alive. >> i turned to my left, three feet from me, there was a soldier. i said, buddy, have you got a match? and he

the president alsois praed private first class russell picket, the last surviving member of company "a." private picket injured three times. mr. trump talked about his will to keep fighting. >>> he said i'm going to return. ix days after d-day, he rejoined his company. 2/3 had been killed already. many had been wounded within 15 minutes of the invasion. they lostom 19 just fr the small town of bedford, virginia, alone. >> now aheaur in o next half hour, julie carey travels to bedford to take a closer look at the d so-called bedforboys and the significance of d-day for that community. >>> still ahead, news 4 working for your walletom ruits and vegetables to electronics, what's going to be the real price tag as you pay for those new tiffs on mexico? >>> also, ready for some robocall relief? it's on the way and you don't have to do athing. what your cell phone carrier is now beedg requir to do. >> 50 years of lgbt rights from the summer of '69 to now. the washington blade has covered it all. i sit down with one of their long-time journalists who has neen a wit bu compare comcast ness to

. >> reporter: russell picket was orrying a flame thrower in the first wao omaha beach.s wounded and had to use life preservers from those killed to save himself from being pulled out to sea by the tide. >>tepending on how you look it, my eagerness to go and do, i was proud of that. but what i got done i wasn't proud of it. if i could have burnedut the pill box within the 30 minutes that i was supposed to have burned it out, there wouldave been hundreds of people saved. i criticize myself all theime even though i couldn't help it. i know i couldn'help it, i got sense enough to know that. but if i had my choice i would go on definitely knowing that i was doing a suicide j. >> reporter: but he's regarded as a genuine hero. in villages like colleville sur mer, they are paying homage to the men who liberated them from four years of nazi occupation. at the moment it's like being on a giant film set in normandy. there's a really festive atmosphere as tens of thousands of people celebrate the sacrifices and courage and sacrifices of those wh participated in the longest day 75 y

russell picket, part of the famed company a, was bounded not just in the d-day invasion but once again when he insisted on going back to fight in france. the president thanked him personally. he rose to hear the applause, had trouble standing up and emmanuel macron walked over to help him get up. that put a lump in my throat to watch the french president help that veteran rise. the french president knew he owed him personally a debt of gratitude. >> we want to bring back our team that's been covering the poignant ceremonies. we have jim acosta, david gregory in washington for us, our cnn political analyst and dana bash, chief political correspondent. jim, since you are there, tell us your thoughts as you watched the flyover. >> this was a remarkable moment. you have to pinch yourself being here on the scene of an extraordinary reminder of the freedom that we all take for granted and how it was won here on this soil 75 years ago. when you heard president trump talk about this just a short time ago it really struck me as one of the more on-moment messages of his presidency. we have one m

behind him, some of them huddled up in blankets, in particular the one i picked out was a private russell picket, president trump told the story of private picket who is in his mid-90s and then asked him -- well didn't does, he led the applause, private picket tried to stand up, very labored. president trump went over to him and bent down and hugged him. this is not a president we've seen hugging very much. he's not that kind of man. but it was a really, really touching moment and felt president trump got it just right. and after that he said, you are among the greatest americans who will ever live. you're the pride of our nation. the glory of our republic. and we thank you. so that was personal. he touched on the political. he did talk about nato indirectly saying to all of our friends and partners, our cherished alliance was forged in the heat of battle, tested in the trial of war and proven in the peace and our bond is unshakeable. that is as far as he went. president macron name checked nato directly and urged president trump to live up to the spirit of normandy as he put it. the alliance of

none caught our eye more than what he said about american russell picket.st known survivor of company a of the 116th regiment 29th infantry unit. he was part of the first wave, often called the suicide wave. pickett, then 19, was immediately wounded. he was eventually rescued and taken to a hospital in london, determined to rejoin his company, he did so just six days later. again, he was wounded soldier. president trump picks up the story from there. >> again, he chose to return. he didn't care. he had to be here. he was then wounded a third time and laid unconscious for 12 days. they thought he was gone. they thought he had no chance. russell pickett is the last known survivor of the legendary company a. and today, believe it or not, he has returned once more to these shores to be with his comrades. >> at the end of that speech, the 94-year-old stood to thank those who had honored him. private pickett, he needed help, though immediately french president macron came to his aid. soon president trump followed and gave pickett a big hug. joining me tonight is

look at them there, including private russell picket, the last known survivor of the u.s.nfantry division. french president emmanuel macron walked over to help pickett out of his seat when he was honored there by president trump. joining me is cnn senior international correspondent jim bittermann. what a day. i mean, what a beautiful sight to see, and what poignant words from the president. the president, president macron, both stressing the importance of this alliance. both in the past and right now. >> both, poppy, kept the focus directly on veterans. i think that's something that both men are getting high marks for. that they didn't let any of the other issues between the united states and france get into the conversations or into their speeches. and yeah, beautiful day. we had great weather out here, poppy. kind of unexpected. in any case, the veterans, i think, were quite impressed. president macron at one point turned around and said to them in english, thank you very much. and he said repeatedly in his speech about how grateful the french people were for what the ve

president trump told a story of private russell picket and i tweeted out a full story about him thatwas in the times free press. he lives in tennessee. you could see as he went over to him and embraced him, that really captured the moment of what happened 75 years ago today and the bravery of those teenagers then. maria: important to say that, they were all young boys and going through the timeline of -- of world war ii is just so extraordinary to look back and to see the force that the nazis had and -- and how they just took over europe. it was the allied code names for the beaches, the allies landed along the 50-mile stretch of normandy were utah, omaha, gold and juneau and 13,000 were struck at night over 1,200 aircraft, incredible operation called operation overlook. >> talking about the nazi hold on europe, it's appropriate president trump talking about and they were really saving civilization itself. maybe poetic moments in the speech there, one where it said about the men who sit behind me and the boy that is rest in the field in front of me. beautiful tribute. >> well, my fam

russell picket is the last known survivor the legendary company a and today, believe it or not, he hasore to these shores to be with his comrades. private picket, you honor us all with your presence. [cheers and applause] [cheers and applause] [applause] tough guy. [laughter] by the fourth week of august, paris was liberated. [cheers and applause] some landed here, pushed all the way to the center of germany, some threw open the gates of nazi concentration camps to liberate jews who had suffered the bottomless horrors of the holocaust. and some warriors fell on other fields of battle, returning to rest on this soil for eternity. before this place was con sayconsecrated to history the land was owned by a french farmer. a member of the french resistance. these were great people. these are strong and tough people. his terrified wife waited out d-day in a nearby householding tight to their little baby girl. the next day a soldier appeared. i'm an american, he said. i'm here to help. the overcome with emotion and cried. days later she laid flowers on fresh american graves. today her grand d