In Normandy, President Trump honors veterans 75 years after D-Day

On June 6, 1944, a coalition of 160,000 American soldiers and other Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, France—a moment that foretold the end of Nazi occupation in Europe and forever changed the course of history.

President Donald J. Trump spoke just yards from Omaha Beach at Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial this morning, paying tribute to the sacrifice these heroes made. “We are gathered here on Freedom’s Altar. On these shores, on these bluffs, on this day 75 years ago, 10,000 men shed their blood, and thousands sacrificed their lives, for their brothers, for their countries, and for the survival of liberty,” he said.

“They came here and saved freedom.”

Watch: “These men ran through the fires of hell,” President Trump says.

This historic site is now the resting place for 9,388 American service members who gave their lives for our freedom. More than 170 World War II veterans attended today’s ceremony, including more than 60 who landed as part of the D-Day operation. French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May also spoke.

Pausing during his address, President Trump walked over and hugged one of the American veterans who joined him onstage. Private First Class Russell Pickett had been wounded in the first wave of soldiers that landed on Omaha Beach during D-Day. As he received treatment at a hospital in England, Private Pickett made it clear that his service wasn’t finished.

“I’m going to return,” Pickett said. Six days after D-Day, he rejoined his company. He would be gravely wounded twice more, including a third injury that caused him to lay unconscious for 12 days. He looked unlikely to survive.

“And, today, believe it or not, he has returned once more to these shores to be with his comrades,” President Trump said before embracing the 94-year-old veteran. “Private Pickett, you honor us all with your presence.”

Before concluding, President Trump gave a few lasting words of appreciation to the veterans of this Greatest Generation:

	The men behind me will tell you that they are just the lucky ones. As one of them recently put it, “All the heroes are buried here.” But we know what these men did. We knew how brave they were. They came here and saved freedom, and then, they went home and showed us all what freedom is all about. The American sons and daughters who saw us to victory were no less extraordinary in peace. They built families. They built industries. They built a national culture that inspired the entire world. In the decades that followed, America defeated communism, secured civil rights, revolutionized science, launched a man to the Moon, and then kept on pushing to new frontiers. And, today, America is stronger than ever before. Seven decades ago, the warriors of D-Day fought a sinister enemy who spoke of a thousand-year empire. In defeating that evil, they left a legacy that will last not only for a thousand years, but for all time—for as long as the soul knows of duty and honor; for as long as freedom keeps its hold on the human heart. To the men who sit behind me, and to the boys who rest in the field before me, your example will never, ever grow old. Your legend will never tire. Your spirit—brave, unyielding, and true—will never die. . . . And our children, and their children, will forever and always be free.