D-Day Anniversary 2025
Today we commemorate the 71st Anniversary of the Invasion of Normandy — not by the forces of “neutral” or “pacifist” nations — but by Allied forces from democracies who believe in fighting evil. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke the following remarks at today's commemoration, making the apt comparison between our soldiers today to those who served then, stating that we “produce such men still, from far flung places willing to traverse the entire globe to defend freedom.”
Given that I like to highlight excellence in argumentation and speech, here are his remarks:
As I stare at that flag, we are forever grateful to the French government for dedicating this land as a resting place for our men. It's also an awe-inspiring sight to see the American flag flying here above thousands of crosses and stars as a tribute to our very best. As the former superintendent of this cemetery used to say, there they are. Still serving their country. A living reminder.
Eighty-one years ago, Hitler thought his Atlantic Wall was impenetrable, many agreed. He clearly had not met enough Americans. A more daring assault had never been planned. The task was daunting, a frontal assault across the channel on beaches and cliffs, strewn with obstacles and defended by heavily fortified bunkers.
Our only advantage was that the enemy underestimated the strength of the Allied war cause. The invasion would include brave troops from the U.S., Great Britain, Canada, France, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Belgium, Norway, Poland, Greece, and Holland. On the ground, the French Resistance covertly aided the effort.
And as the troops loaded into their ships, planes, and landing craft, they received copies of an order from General Eisenhower reminding them of the stakes of their mission. I have a copy right here.
He wrote, "You are about to embark upon the great crusade toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere march with you.
"In company with our brave allies and brothers in arms on other fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe and security for ourselves in a free world. Your task will not be an easy one."
He ends by writing, "And let us all beseech the blessings of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking."
Now that's a mission statement if I've ever heard one. Those words along with ceaseless prayers to the Lord Almighty willed our troops as they pushed off into dark and choppy waters.
They prayed. They smoked. They joked. They wrote home. They looked at photos. They knew many of them would not make it out alive and they would have to rely on each other to succeed or to just survive.
The assault began quietly before dawn on June the 6th with radio silence as paratroopers and gliders landed in the early hours. These men flung themselves into the abyss of night lit only by the fire of German tracers.
Later that morning, the greatest amphibious assault in the history of mankind began in full force. Our men pushed through the waves and flung themselves upon the sand. The courage it took to do this is unfathomable.
The first groups were decimated. Thousands of young men lost their lives, cut down by the barrage of machine guns and mortars. But they never let up. Our warriors never faltered, God at their backs. As they forced their way inland, the Atlantic Wall began to crumble. It is these men and their bravery whom we are here to celebrate and remember.
A generation of farmhands and city kids. Baseball players and shopkeepers. Big towns, small towns, rich, poor, who were forged and hardened in the Great Depression. Hard men, forged for hard times. Ordinary men, who mustered extraordinary courage. While every one of the 9,000 Americans buried here are heroes, three men here also received the Medal of Honor for their actions in the invasion.
And as Sebastian mentioned, one of those was Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr., the oldest man to land on D-Day at the age of 56. He had to submit a written petition to receive permission because he had a heart condition and arthritis. He had nothing to prove, but he could not stay back while his men met their fate.
There were no other generals on the beach that day. When he landed far from his objective, he simply said men will start the war from right here. He organized the troops and made order out of chaos. A month later, his heart gave out, but he had completed his mission, as did every soul buried under one of those markers.
You see, war reveals the true character of men. The character of a people. Lead from the front or capitulate and fall out. To walk over or run if you can, carrying equipment over that open beach as shells and bullets thunder around you again and again, I cannot imagine. Could you do that? Could I? Could we? As we know, we have a number of these warriors with us here today.
These men, boys then, were part of those landing forces. They embody the warrior ethos. We have many other men here today who served in France, and across the world in that war. To that, I can simply say, gentlemen, thank you for your service, for your sacrifice and for your bravery. That day and those days that followed turned the tide of the war and history itself.
In the two months after the invasion, the Allies poured more than two million troops through the hard-won opening in Normandy without Operation Overlord, without the sacrifices of American, French, British and other Allied powers, we would not have the free world. This day, June the 6th, is the price of freedom.
We remember the losses. We celebrate the victories. We rededicate ourselves to the fight for liberty, security, and peace. And again, we should ask ourselves, could I do what they did? Could you? Could we? Could our kids? Do we produce such men? How do we produce such Americans? Our civilization today and going forward must answer those questions.
You know, I wrote this speech before this morning, but this morning I got my answer. This morning, I had a chance to do PT with Army Rangers on the beach, on Omaha Beach, I got my answer to those questions. With the sun rising with the Ranger regiment, yes, we do produce such men still, from far flung places willing to traverse the entire globe to defend freedom.
I had a chance this morning to run with a young ranger whose grandfather was liberated in the Philippines by the sixth Rangers. He joined and he didn't even know that. The legacy of Americans around the world for freedom. As we ran on that beach this morning at 6:30, as the sun was rising about the same time those first landing crafts landed, didn't look much like a battlefield.
