'These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc'

Rick Moran  "June 6, 1984. On the 40th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, President Ronald Reagan stood on the very spot where a single battalion of Army Rangers scaled a bluff under fire in order to silence guns that were harrassing troops landing on Omaha Beach.

"It was a magnificent feat of arms and Reagan, in one of the greatest American political speeches of all time, canonized those Rangers and drew a larger lesson from their sacrifices.

"RealClearPolitics includes a transcript of that speech in today's "Top Reads":"
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"Reagan's speech encapsulated that valor and courage and will be remembered as long as we remember D-Day."
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Back on the beaches one final time: D-Day heroes return to Normandy to mark the 69th anniversary of the landings

"British and American veterans of the the Normandy landings have returned to the beaches one final time to mark the 69th anniversary of the invasion."In emotional scenes, several hundred former soldiers, many proudly wearing their old uniforms emblazoned with medals, gathered to lay wreaths and remember fallen comrades."