Culture

These are the boys of Pointe Du Hoc

Today is the 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. Above is President Ronald Reagan’s iconic speech commemorating the event on the 40th anniversary.

4 Comments

  • pauljacobsblog

    I remember when Reagan gave this speech. It was a different time then. There was no Rush, Hannity, Levin, or Fox News. The 3 networks plus PBS all condemned the speech as troublesome and provocative towards the USSR. I remember it being called simplistic.
    Reagan was a great president. His message to the American people blasted through without the internet, Fox News or Talk Radio. The liberal media controlled all major newspapers, plus Time and Newsweek. He was “The Great Communicator.” He communicated so well that during his second term the major networks refused to carry his speeches.
    When I think about a leader like him and then compare him to the community organizer that we have now, I almost cry.

  • Nathan Mayfield

    It’s hard to believe that speech is 30 years old. One can rest assured there won’t be any speeches of that magnitude given by our President today. Notice, as well, that President Reagan didn’t speak about himself once. It was all about the men who fought and died for our freedom.

  • James Stanton

    Men, why must even a D-Day memorial post be used to attack the current President?

    “The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead or on the next. It was the deep knowledge — and pray God we have not lost it — that there is a profound, moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt.”

    “But we try always to be prepared for peace; prepared to deter aggression; prepared to negotiate the reduction of arms; and, yes, prepared to reach out again in the spirit of reconciliation. In truth, there is no reconciliation we would welcome more than a reconciliation with the Soviet Union, so, together, we can lessen the risks of war, now and forever.”

    “It’s fitting to remember here the great losses also suffered by the Russian people during World War II: 20 million perished, a terrible price that testifies to all the world the necessity of ending war. I tell you from my heart that we in the United States do not want war. We want to wipe from the face of the Earth the terrible weapons that man now has in his hands.”

    Reagan’s speech tells me how far we’ve fallen with our disregard for the moral element in waging war. Look at the rhetoric that permeates discussions of war and peace in our country and compare that to Reagan’s earnest desires to balance the need for war with a chance for peace. The last excerpt points to Reagan’s hatred for nuclear weapons.

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