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| Ronald Reagan Helped Us Remember
– And Never Forget – The Soldiers of D-Day
By Mark Burson
Today is one of those rare occasions when the number on the calendar jumps off the page. That is because June 6th is one of the few dates instantaneously known to the American People. True, most Americans today can’t identify the day Nazi Germany surrendered (VE-Day – May 7, 1945) or the day marking Japan’s surrender and the end of World War II (VJ-Day – September 2, 1945). But they know June 6th because D-Day is deeply etched in America’s consciousness. On this day 57 years ago – in what was the largest air, land, and sea invasion ever undertaken – more than 5,000 ships, 10,000 airplanes, and 250,000 servicemen and servicewomen stormed the windswept Normandy Coast on the Northern Shore of France and carried out the decisive battle that would smash Hitler’s Nazi Germany. More than 6,600 Americans lost their lives that day, fighting and dying in a place that many of them had never seen, in a country they had never visited, defending a continent of people they did not know. What words could summon an appropriate tribute to the soldiers of this selfless act? Not many, and not easily articulated to be sure, which makes Ronald Reagan’s speech 17 years ago today all the more remarkable. On the 40th Anniversary of the Normandy invasion, President Reagan traveled to the site of this most famous battle and afforded us the rare opportunity to relive a moment gone by, appreciate its relevance to the present, and consider its lasting impact on the brighter future it helped to achieve. Even after the passage of four decades, many questions were yet to be asked and answered at Normandy, specifically of the Army Rangers who literally climbed rock and crag to neutralize massive artillery guns that surely could have helped repulse the invasion itself. Ronald Reagan took up the task. “Why? Why did you do it?” he asked. “What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these cliffs? What inspired all the men of the armies that met here?” As I think no American has before or since, Ronald Reagan helped us to understand the scope of the act and the spirit of its actors: “We look at you, and somehow we know the answer. It was faith, and belief; it was loyalty and love.” This was more than a speech, more than reminiscence, more than stirring recall of a great event gone by. This was Ronald Reagan considering an indelible chapter of the American experience and helping us to understand it, appreciate it, and place it into its true and just context. This was certainly not the first nor last time that Ronald Reagan did us this great favor. But it may have been the occasion where his rhetorical flourish and majestic delivery were most perfectly matched to the magnitude of the moment. On that day, Ronald Reagan compelled us to consider and appreciate what makes us most special as Americans (that “experiment in history” as he was fond of referring to this country) and remember what we must never forget: “You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One’s country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it’s the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man.” In honoring the heroes of that day, and memorializing their fallen comrades, Ronald Reagan moved us to grasp two vital principles very much alive in him when he delivered his stirring words: Global Democracy and National Pride. That is why at the entrance of the Library that bears Ronald Reagan’s name and houses his life’s work stand four concrete pillars that we believe capture his strongest beliefs and represent a lasting tribute to the man. We call them the “Four Pillars of Freedom” – Individual Liberty, Economic Opportunity, Global Democracy and National Pride. I understand that no stone structure or displayed words can fully translate all that the 40th President means to his fellow Americans or to the world. But I believe what we at the Library are charged with is nothing less than the unfinished work of Ronald Reagan. In that solemn duty and responsibility, we are compelled to ensure that others know, learn, remember and regard his enduring legacy. So, on this day, we pay special tribute to the boys of Pointe de Hoc and the men of D-Day, as well as to the man who helped us to honor and appreciate them, as they so richly deserve. |
Mark Burson is the Executive Director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Foundation. He may be reached via e-mail at: mburson@reaganfoundation.org
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