D-Day

[phkrause]

Re-enactors wear U.S. military uniforms from World War II in Vierville-sur-Mer, on France's Normandy coast, this morning to mark the 79th anniversary of the epochal D-Day landing on Omaha Beach, on June 6, 1944.

• Go deeper: D-Day facts & figures.

[phkrause]

June 6 is the 80th anniversary of D-Day, when Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy, France, to begin the liberation of Europe from Nazi Germany during World War II. President Biden, who will be in France this week for the anniversary, will deliver remarks on freedom and democracy at Pointe du Hoc on Friday. On Saturday, Biden and first lady Jill Biden will attend a state dinner in Paris at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron.

[phkrause]

? Pic du jour: D-Day 80th kicks off

Photo: Lou Benoist/AFP via Getty Images U.S. soldiers parachuted today from a Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft into now-peaceful skies over Normandy, France, kicking off a weeklong commemoration of the 80th anniversary of D-Day — June 6, 1944. Why it matters: It's an epic "thank you" to the fast-disappearing generation of Allied troops who fought from Omaha and Utah beaches to defeat Adolf Hitler, helping free Europe. Keep reading. Fireworks lit up Normandy last night during the festivities. Photo: Artur Widak/Anadolu via Getty Images "With major commemorations held every five years, organizers and government officials concede that this year's event could be the last to involve living veterans," CNN notes. More on the plans.

[phkrause]

France welcomes WWII vets ahead of grand D-Day commemoration
Dozens of veterans will be guests of honor at events in Normandy this week to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Officials say they are going to incredible lengths to treat veterans like royalty.

[phkrause]

WW2 veteran aged 102 dies on way to D-Day event

A World War Two US Navy veteran travelling to France for an event marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings has died, a veteran organisation has confirmed.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqlle8dljnno.amp

[phkrause]

D-Day

The D-Day invasion of Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944, marked the launch of Operation Overlord. Operation Overlord was the code name for the invasion of Normandy. The Normandy Campaign proved to be one of the most important Allied military operations of World War II. It was key to the western Allies’ victory over Germany. By the end of June, more than 850,000 Allied troops had come ashore on the beaches of Normandy.

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/d-day?

[phkrause]

? Pic du jour

Photo: Laurent Cipriani/AP Ahead of tomorrow's 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, candles were lit last night on each tombstone of the Commonwealth war cemetery of Banneville-La-Campagne, Normandy, France. President Biden landed in Paris this morning for the ceremonies. Keep reading.

[phkrause]

?️ Vets descend on Normandy

The sun rises today over Omaha Beach near Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, France. Photo: Laurent Cipriani/AP UTAH BEACH, France (AP) — As the sun sets on the D-Day generation, it rose today over Normandy beaches where soldiers fought and died 80 years ago today, kicking off anniversary commemorations against the Ukraine backdrop of renewed war in Europe. Keep reading. American veterans Art Medeiros (left), Dick Canfield (center) and Louis Brown are cheered by onlookers during a parade in Normandy, France, yesterday. Photo: Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images Some of the last remaining veterans of the D-Day invasion — June 6, 1944 — descended on Normandy, France, to participate in a ceremony overlooking Omaha Beach. For many veterans, who are all nearing or over 100, this could be their last chance to revisit the site and mourn those who paid the ultimate price. Even a 19-year-old who stormed ashore in the biggest amphibious operation in history will soon be 100, CNN's Stephen Collinson notes. Go deeper: Centenarian veterans share their memories ... How AP covered the landings ... D-Day, hour-by-hour ... By the numbers. Watch the ceremony (6:30 a.m. ET). President Biden walks next to a French honor guard after arriving in Paris yesterday. Photo: Evan Vucci/AP ABC News anchor David Muir will interview President Biden today in France — part of a broader press push as the general election heats up, Axios' Sara Fischer writes. The interview piggybacks off of Muir's D-Day anniversary coverage, which includes a two-part series on the last living heroes of Normandy. Keep reading.

[phkrause]

D-Day

 

Today marks the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the first day of the Normandy landings that laid the foundations for defeating Nazi Germany in World War II. The Allied invasion in 1944 saw tens of thousands of troops from countries including the US, the UK and Canada landing on five stretches of the coastline of Normandy, France. It was a coordinated effort across air, land and sea which the US Department of Defense calls the "successful beginning of the end of Hitler's tyrannical regime." Presidents, prime ministers and monarchs from NATO nations are gathering in France this week in what will likely be the last major decennial commemoration attended by a significant number of veterans. Even a 19-year-old who stormed ashore in the biggest amphibious operation in history would soon be 100.

 

For more, view this photo gallery of the D-Day landings or watch this video to meet some of the last living WWII veterans who participated in the operation.  

[phkrause]

In photos: Biden marks 80th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy

President Biden opened his speech commemorating D-Day by saluting World War II veterans, who he said "who met the test of ages that moment 80 years ago" on Thursday.

https://www.axios.com/2024/06/06/biden-dday-normandy-d-day-speech-photos?

[phkrause]

AP PHOTOS: A look at the 80th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy

Veterans from the U.S., Britain and Canada, more than two dozen heads of state and countless others took to the beaches of Normandy and elsewhere this week to mark the 80th anniversary of the June 6, 1944, D-Day invasion of Nazi-occupied France.

https://apnews.com/article/dday-anniversary-photo-gallery-b9b0dee2baa8b392dc30317b1fe53d9e?

[phkrause]

? Biden's D-Day jabs

President Biden vowed to "not walk away" from Ukraine during his remarks in Normandy, France, today — and took not-so-veiled jabs at Russia President Vladimir Putin's aggression and former President Trump's isolationist policies.

• Biden didn't mention Trump by name at the ceremony honoring the 80th anniversary of D-Day, but his comments were an implicit warning against Trump's "America First" stance.
• "Isolationism was not the answer 80 years ago and is not the answer today," Biden said.
• "We know the dark forces that these heroes fought against 80 years ago .... The struggle between dictatorship and freedom is unending."

He defended NATO, a frequent target of Trump, saying the alliance is "more united than ever," and said the U.S. and NATO "will not walk away [from Ukraine] because if we do, Ukraine will be subjugated."

Biden, also without mentioning his name, called out Putin as a "tyrant bent on domination," in his war against Ukraine.

Biden previously accused Trump of ceding to Putin after the ex-president raised doubts about whether he'd keep the U.S. in NATO if he were re-elected.

• Trump said in February that he'd "encourage" Russia "to do whatever the hell they want" to a NATO ally if that country were behind in covering its defense obligations to the alliance.
• He said in March that he'd keep the U.S. in NATO if other members pay their "fair share," but also said the U.S. would be fine outside NATO because "we have an ocean in between [us and] some problems."

[phkrause]

Sneak peek: Biden at Pointe du Hoc

ABC's David Muir interviews President Biden and Dr. Jill Biden at the American cemetery in Normandy, France, yesterday. Photo: ABC News At 10 a.m. ET in Normandy, France, President Biden will make a major address on democracy from a legendary, hallowed spot — Pointe du Hoc, where U.S. Army Rangers scaled cliffs during the D-Day invasion, 80 years ago. President Ronald Reagan delivered one of his most famous speeches there in 1984, 40 years on from D-Day: "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." ? A Biden ally familiar with the speech tells me: "Without nostalgia, without sentimentality, and without ego, the president sees this moment as an hour of decision for America: Will we preserve and strengthen democracy — the democracy the forces of World War II saved?" "It's that straightforward, and that important. The usual measures of 'Whose speech was better?' or 'Will there be a bounce?' — those measures are out of date. "The substantive truth of the matter is that President Biden, like President Reagan, believes in a world where democracy must stand against dictatorship, and freedom has to be defended against authoritarian impulses. That's what matters." Read Peter Baker's preview (gift link).

[phkrause]

Biden: "Democracy begins with each of us"

President Biden delivers a speech near the monument at Pointe du Hoc in Normandy today. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images President Biden defended the power and value of democracy during a speech today in Pointe du Hoc, where allied forces invaded Nazi-occupied France in World War II, Axios' Ivana Saric reports. "American democracy asks the hardest of things: to believe that we're a part of something bigger than ourselves. So democracy begins with each of us," Biden said. Biden also drew a parallel between the fight against fascism 80 years ago and the need today to defend democracy around the world. "Does anyone doubt that they would want America to stand up against Putin's aggression here in Europe today" or to "vanquish hateful ideologies of today?" Biden asked. Go deeper.

[phkrause]

‘The first wave went through hell:’ The 16th Infantry Regiment’s role in victory on D-Day

Among the many Allied military units storming the Normandy coast on June 6, 1944, was the 16th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army’s 1st Infantry Division. Its members faced a particularly daunting task: As part of the first wave of the largest amphibious assault in history, the regiment was assigned to clear the Omaha Beach landing sectors code-named “Easy Red” and “Fox Green.”

https://scdailygazette.com/2024/06/06/the-first-wave-went-through-hell-the-16th-infantry-regiments-role-in-victory-on-d-day/?

[phkrause]

‘Democracy begins with each of us,’ Biden says at site of D-Day invasion in Normandy

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden, speaking from the site of the D-Day invasion in Normandy, France, said Friday that those who support democracy must remember what World War II soldiers sacrificed and to live up to those ideals.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/06/07/democracy-begins-with-each-of-us-biden-says-at-site-of-d-day-invasion-in-normandy/?

[phkrause]

Read what a Chinese officer wrote of D-Day in his diary salvaged in Hong Kong

OUISTREHAM, France (AP) — The captain of the giant Royal Navy battleship called his officers together to give them a first morsel of one of World War II’s most closely guarded secrets: Prepare yourselves, he said, for “an extremely important task.”

https://apnews.com/article/dday-hong-kong-china-france-liberation-war-359faf9096745490e137027d4eea8c90?

[phkrause]

82 years since D-Day

Photo: Jeremias Gonzalez/AP U.S. World War II veteran Hilbert "Hibby" Margol, age 102, arrives yesterday at the U.S. cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, France, to commemorate the 82nd anniversary of the D-Day landings. Fewer than 0.5% of the 16.4 million Americans who served in World War II are still alive. Photo: Jeremias Gonzalez/AP Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lays a wreath during a ceremony in Colleville-sur-Mer yesterday. Worthy read: The Atlantic spoke with 100-year-old D-Day survivor Joe Picard about preserving history (gift link).

[phkrause]

Hegseth invokes immigration and ‘invasion’ in D-Day speech in France

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used a D-Day anniversary speech on Saturday to appear to link immigration by sea to the wartime liberation of Europe, warning that the freedom won by Allied troops could prove temporary if leaders failed to defend it. His remarks echoed broader Trump administration criticism of Europe over migration, borders and what U.S. officials have described as censorship of nationalist and far-right voices. Read more.