Remembering the heroes of D-Day (06-06-2024--Hour3)

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[00:00:29] Thanks again to Dr. Bill for joining us.

[00:00:30] We're going to sit on this 80th anniversary of D-Day.

[00:00:34] Let me go over here and get David on the program.

[00:00:37] Hello, David, welcome to the show.

[00:00:39] Hey, great program.

[00:00:41] So I was listening to the professor earlier, and he mentioned something called Operation

[00:00:47] Tiger, which is where the LSTs, several LSTs were sunk.

[00:00:52] So about a month before D-Day, the allies decided, let's go practice.

[00:00:58] And we found this great beach on the south of England that looks just like the Normandy

[00:01:03] beachhead, same kind of geography.

[00:01:06] Well, the Germans got wind of it.

[00:01:08] Oh, I lost you, man.

[00:01:10] No, I'm still here.

[00:01:11] Oh, OK.

[00:01:12] Anyway, I was just listening intently to the story.

[00:01:16] Sorry.

[00:01:17] So this guy, this veteran, he was a Coast Guardsman and I was going out of a restaurant.

[00:01:25] He was walking in with his wife, and this has been several years ago.

[00:01:28] Well, come to find out, a lot of the Coast Guardsmen operated a lot of the landing craft,

[00:01:33] you know, because when you're on the Coast Guard, you're used to handling smaller boats,

[00:01:37] not great big ships.

[00:01:38] So he proceeded to tell me about it.

[00:01:41] These LSTs were basically built like a kid's toy boat in the bathtub.

[00:01:47] It was just one great big hull with an open void on the inside and these clam doors on

[00:01:52] the front.

[00:01:53] And you drove all these tanks and trucks and stuff up in there.

[00:01:57] And of course, they were all loaded with fuel and ammunition, all this stuff, because they

[00:02:01] were going to practice, you know, a live ammo landing.

[00:02:05] Right.

[00:02:06] And the Germans got wind of it.

[00:02:07] He and his buddy were down below checking on something and they heard a scraping sound.

[00:02:14] And they're like, oh, it must be some debris in the water.

[00:02:17] It was German torpedoes.

[00:02:19] And the Germans had set their torpedoes too deep and they ran under the LSTs.

[00:02:24] Oh, wow.

[00:02:25] So the Germans figured it out.

[00:02:27] And next thing you know, these LSTs are exploding and sinking.

[00:02:31] And when it was all said and done, he and one of his buddies are staying on the rail

[00:02:34] of one of the ships that survived.

[00:02:36] And they're, you know, sitting there kind of reminiscing and talking about it.

[00:02:42] And his buddy looked at him and said, these krauts play for keeps.

[00:02:47] Yeah, I recognize, you know, today is the 80th anniversary, but I think a lot of people

[00:02:53] don't realize, like, the preparations and the fighting was going on long before D-Day

[00:03:00] occurred.

[00:03:01] And then, you know, a month and a half, two months, three months later, and it was all

[00:03:04] still right there, heavy fighting, you know, 30 days on the beaches and trying to get up

[00:03:11] and over the banks and then start making the push interior.

[00:03:17] He also mentioned that so many of the GIs died because they jumped in the water with

[00:03:22] their helmets.

[00:03:23] Yeah, because they were all buttoned up.

[00:03:24] They're getting ready to land in a couple of hours.

[00:03:27] They all had their helmets on.

[00:03:29] And so when they jumped in, the chin straps broke their necks.

[00:03:31] Yeah.

[00:03:32] And a lot of them drowned because they were so loaded down.

[00:03:38] There was also, you know, stuff that was put into the water, you know, to stop boats from

[00:03:45] obviously landing, but to keep people out as well.

[00:03:47] And so when you're, you know, in these boats and they're just getting ripped to shreds

[00:03:52] by the gunners on the beach, then a lot of the guys just tried to jump out and they would

[00:03:58] get ensnared, you know, with underwater.

[00:04:02] And it's just awful.

[00:04:05] Just everything about it.

[00:04:06] Or flip over because they were so heavy with all the gear.

[00:04:08] Right.

[00:04:09] Yeah.

[00:04:10] It's just a terrible day.

[00:04:13] Great show, Pete.

[00:04:14] Thank you for taking the time to do this.

[00:04:15] I really appreciate it.

[00:04:16] Yes, sir.

[00:04:17] David, I appreciate the call.

[00:04:18] Thanks for sharing the story.

[00:04:19] Here's one.

[00:04:21] Teddy Roosevelt's son, Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr.

[00:04:28] This is a story told by Ryan James Gidersky.

[00:04:34] He says at 56 years old, the World War One veteran who also previously served as assistant

[00:04:40] secretary of the Navy and governor of Puerto Rico, requested three times to lead the first

[00:04:47] wave of the assault on Utah Beach before permission was finally granted to him to do so.

[00:04:53] Under a barrage of artillery fire, he proceeded to lead the men across the beach, returning

[00:04:58] for the ensuing units.

[00:05:03] The part of Operation Neptune or he led part of the Operation Neptune and led the assault

[00:05:08] on Utah Beach where the tidal currents were so strong that the first 20 landing craft strayed

[00:05:15] two kilometers to the south of where their expected objective was.

[00:05:20] Roosevelt, as one of the first men off the boat, immediately assessed the revised situation

[00:05:26] and is reported to have said, quote, we'll start the war from right here.

[00:05:31] He repeatedly led groups from the beach over the seawall and then established them inland.

[00:05:38] His valor, courage and presence in the very front of the attack and his complete unconcern

[00:05:42] at being under heavy fire inspired the troops to heights of enthusiasm and self-sacrifice.

[00:05:47] Although the enemy had the beach under constant direct fire, Brigadier General Roosevelt moved

[00:05:53] from one locality to another, rallying men around him, directed and personally led them

[00:05:59] against the Germans.

[00:06:01] Under his seasoned, precise, calm and unfaltering leadership, assault troops reduced beach

[00:06:08] strong points and rapidly moved inland with minimum casualties.

[00:06:13] He thus contributed substantially to the successful establishment of the beachhead in France.

[00:06:18] 36 days later on July 12th, 1944, he died in his sleep of a heart attack at the age

[00:06:24] of 56.

[00:06:27] He was 56 years old when he did that.

[00:06:31] General Omar Bradley later said Roosevelt's action on Utah Beach was the bravest thing

[00:06:35] he had ever seen.

[00:06:38] And in a letter to his wife, General George Patton wrote, quote, he was one of the bravest

[00:06:42] men I ever knew.

[00:06:46] Ray, over here and get Ray on.

[00:06:48] Hello, Ray.

[00:06:49] Welcome to the show.

[00:06:50] Hey, how are you doing?

[00:06:51] Hey, I'm all right.

[00:06:52] I didn't really get to finish my story, but like I started to say, June 6th, besides being

[00:06:57] D-Day, right from the heart, they're here for a couple of reasons.

[00:07:02] Number one, I'm second generation Italian.

[00:07:05] I'm a family of General.

[00:07:06] I've had 20 years of military service.

[00:07:08] Even my sister did 20 years.

[00:07:10] I was a couple of ones.

[00:07:11] Ray, Ray, I don't know what's up with your phone connection.

[00:07:15] Are you in like a, I know it's windy outside.

[00:07:17] Are you on a speakerphone?

[00:07:18] Nope.

[00:07:19] Okay.

[00:07:20] Yeah.

[00:07:21] Can you shield maybe?

[00:07:22] Yeah, I can hear you now.

[00:07:23] Yeah, yeah.

[00:07:24] There you go.

[00:07:25] Good to go.

[00:07:26] At any rate, I'm second generation Italian.

[00:07:27] 120 years of military service in my family.

[00:07:30] Even my sister did 20 years.

[00:07:34] Everyone in my family in Vietnam, I lost all called his second tour.

[00:07:37] So like I said, this is all a big day for me.

[00:07:41] But besides that, June 6th, 1998, 26 years ago today, my second born son was carjacked,

[00:07:50] abducted and they killed him.

[00:07:52] And we buried him on June 9th, which was my dad's 62nd birthday.

[00:07:58] And on the 12th, he would have been 17.

[00:08:00] So this year on Wednesday, my son would have been 43 and sadly enough when I lost him,

[00:08:07] I was 42.

[00:08:08] So just keep things in perspective.

[00:08:10] But I'm going to tell you what, I have, I have taught all my four dads since he was

[00:08:15] a kid.

[00:08:16] I don't know if you've got time for it, but a number of years back when my younger daughters

[00:08:19] were really little, went into a Harris Teeter.

[00:08:24] Big man over in the produce department, wearing a hat, you know, veteran.

[00:08:29] And I said, hold on.

[00:08:30] So I walked up behind him, touched him on the back and I said, God bless you, sir.

[00:08:34] And I shook his hand.

[00:08:35] And my family was like, you know, whatever.

[00:08:37] Went back towards the meat department.

[00:08:39] There's this little bitty guy about five foot nothing.

[00:08:42] Same thing.

[00:08:43] Hold on.

[00:08:44] I went over, tapped him on the back, shook his hand.

[00:08:46] God blessed it.

[00:08:47] So we go back up front to check out.

[00:08:49] And I told my wife, you check out, I'm going to sit on this bench with the girls.

[00:08:52] So we're sitting there and the little guy, the old guy, he's way down at the other end.

[00:08:57] Check it out.

[00:08:58] And my daughter said, ask me, she goes, daddy, who were those men you were talking to with

[00:09:01] those hats on?

[00:09:02] I said, well, those are veterans.

[00:09:04] What?

[00:09:05] I said, they're veterans.

[00:09:06] I said, without them, we wouldn't have a country.

[00:09:08] And they're looking at me like, you know, I've lost my mind.

[00:09:10] I said, okay.

[00:09:11] You know how daddy sometimes likes to watch history channel, which he do all the time.

[00:09:15] Yes.

[00:09:17] You know, sometimes if you're just passing through the room and you'll see these guys

[00:09:21] jumping around, it's all black and white, no color.

[00:09:23] They're jumping around and they're shooting and there's bombs and all this stuff going

[00:09:27] on.

[00:09:28] Yeah.

[00:09:29] I said, those two guys were there.

[00:09:31] Their eyes got huge.

[00:09:34] Are you kidding?

[00:09:35] I said, no, they were there.

[00:09:38] And about that time, the little guy passes in front of us and I stood up in front of

[00:09:42] him.

[00:09:43] I said, sir, I said, I said, I don't mean to bother you.

[00:09:45] But, but I need to ask you a favor.

[00:09:47] He said, what's that?

[00:09:48] I said, I just explained to my daughters who you are and what you did for us.

[00:09:53] Would you please shake their hands?

[00:09:55] When that man walked out the door, he was 10 feet tall.

[00:09:58] I see.

[00:10:00] That's what you do.

[00:10:01] People forget sometimes, but I'm telling you, it's what you do.

[00:10:05] My dad got the purple heart.

[00:10:07] He was in Korea.

[00:10:08] You know what I found out about it?

[00:10:10] At his funeral.

[00:10:11] Yeah.

[00:10:12] That's not surprising.

[00:10:13] Never, never, never told me.

[00:10:14] Yeah.

[00:10:15] They just never talked about it.

[00:10:16] But anyway.

[00:10:17] Ray, I appreciate, I appreciate the call, man.

[00:10:19] And I'm sorry to hear about your son and prayers for comfort to you and your family.

[00:10:24] I appreciate it.

[00:10:25] Thank you for sharing the stories with us too.

[00:10:27] Thanks for calling.

[00:10:29] Let me go over and get Robert on.

[00:10:31] Hello, Robert.

[00:10:32] Welcome to the program.

[00:10:33] How are you?

[00:10:34] Hey, Pete, I appreciate you taking my phone call.

[00:10:36] Yes, sir.

[00:10:37] Excellent show today.

[00:10:39] And I just wanted to let you know, I heard you speaking about with a gentleman from Montreux,

[00:10:44] a professor about Andy Andrews.

[00:10:46] Yeah.

[00:10:47] And back in the day when I was working, I was an auditor with the state of Tennessee

[00:10:51] Department of Revenue and I was doing a sales tax audit on a furniture store up in Black

[00:10:56] Mountain, North Carolina, no names mentioned.

[00:10:58] I know the store.

[00:11:00] I know the store.

[00:11:01] I know the store.

[00:11:04] And I became friends with the fellow that worked in the office there.

[00:11:07] And so when I saw the newspaper article on Andy Andrews in the Charlotte paper, the big

[00:11:13] write-up they had for him, I called my friend and I said, do you know Andy?

[00:11:17] And he said, absolutely, I know him.

[00:11:19] And I said, I would like to have a chance to say hello to him sometime.

[00:11:22] He said, well, let me see what I can do.

[00:11:25] So, you know, got off the phone.

[00:11:26] He called me back, I don't know, an hour later.

[00:11:28] He said, yeah.

[00:11:30] And he's living in an assisted living facility up here in Black Mountain and he'd be receptive

[00:11:34] to taking your phone call.

[00:11:35] So I called him up and I told him about my dad.

[00:11:38] My dad was in the Army.

[00:11:40] He was over in that part of the world in World War II.

[00:11:43] And, of course, my dad never talked about any of it and all that.

[00:11:47] But so I had a nice conversation with Andy and I said, you know, if it would be okay,

[00:11:53] I'd like to have a chance to come up and meet with you sometime.

[00:11:56] He said, yeah, absolutely.

[00:11:57] So I drove up there and I had lunch with Andy at his assisted living facility.

[00:12:02] Wonderful man, wonderful.

[00:12:04] And my nephew was going to school out here at Indian Land Elementary.

[00:12:09] He was in the sixth grade.

[00:12:10] And my wife told me that he was in a history class, was teaching on World War II.

[00:12:16] And I said, well, you know, I have a friend who served in World War II D-Day invasion

[00:12:22] and asked the teacher if they would be okay, based on Andy's approval,

[00:12:28] if it would be okay if they would like to hear Andy speak at his school.

[00:12:37] And the teacher said, absolutely.

[00:12:39] So I contacted Andy with approval of his family, and he said he would be happy to do so.

[00:12:46] And, of course, Andy didn't drive.

[00:12:48] So I drove up to Black Mountain, went and met with him at his assisted living facility.

[00:12:53] We had dinner that evening, and I stayed in the hotel right down the road.

[00:12:57] And the next morning I got up, went back over, picked up Andy,

[00:13:02] drove him back down to Indian Land School.

[00:13:04] I have photos on Facebook, the whole nine yards, to prove my story, what have you.

[00:13:10] And when we walked into school, Pete, it was like they all knew he was coming.

[00:13:16] Everybody was out in the hallway.

[00:13:17] It was like I was bringing Elvis Presley into the school.

[00:13:20] It was just amazing.

[00:13:22] They got video of all this, and we walked into this room, and I don't know,

[00:13:27] there must have been 50, 75 school kids in this assembly room sitting there waiting on him.

[00:13:32] And he walked in with a box of his memorabilia, and he just, you know, right at the very beginning,

[00:13:39] he said, boys and girls, what I'm about to tell you is not going to be pretty.

[00:13:44] War is a living hell, and he described in detail right from the beginning what he experienced.

[00:13:51] You know, at that time I believe he was 18, you know, born and raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

[00:13:57] Some of the things I do remember him saying to the kids was that when they were pulling up on the boat

[00:14:04] and he saw the lights on the beach, he said to himself, what in God's name am I doing here?

[00:14:10] You know, and of course he described in detail about climbing down that ladder into the water,

[00:14:16] described in detail about storming the beach, also told the story about when they got up on the hill.

[00:14:24] I don't know if it was that day or the next day.

[00:14:27] There was a house sitting up there, and he heard a bunch of chatter, a bunch of women inside the home

[00:14:31] or people inside the home, and didn't know who it was.

[00:14:35] And he asked his commander, and the commander said, you know, go ahead and knock the door down

[00:14:40] because they didn't know who was in there.

[00:14:41] And he knocked the door down, and it was a bunch of German women sitting in there sewing flags.

[00:14:47] And of course Andy was a passionate person or whatever, but he said, I want one of those flags.

[00:14:52] They gave him a flag.

[00:14:54] The other thing that I do remember, Pete, and then I'll let you go, was he said that after it was all over,

[00:15:00] he said that they pulled back into New York City, and he said all the soldiers had a telephone booth there lined up,

[00:15:09] and all the soldiers had an opportunity to call one phone call to whoever they wanted to call.

[00:15:16] And he said he called his mother in Black Mountain, or I'm sorry, in Chattanooga,

[00:15:22] and she answers the phone, and he said, Mother, this is your son Andy.

[00:15:27] And she dropped the phone, and that was just so very moving.

[00:15:32] And he finished speaking to the kids, and we gave all the kids an opportunity to ask questions

[00:15:38] and ask some really good questions.

[00:15:40] And I just never forget this one young girl stood up and said, Andy, I don't have any questions.

[00:15:45] I just want to say to you, thank you so very much for what you did for us.

[00:15:50] And it was very, very moving.

[00:15:52] I feel blessed that I met Andy.

[00:15:55] He was a wonderful soul.

[00:15:57] I was at his funeral service there in Black Mountain.

[00:16:00] I have the pamphlet from it right here, and I do remember the gentleman that you had on your program.

[00:16:07] And may God rest his soul.

[00:16:10] He was a wonderful person, and thank you for taking my call, Pete.

[00:16:13] Thank you, Robert.

[00:16:14] I appreciate you sharing that.

[00:16:15] Thank you.

[00:16:16] Ronald Reagan asked the right questions in 1984 when D-Day veterans, men who at that time were in their 60s,

[00:16:25] and he had traveled to the cliffs above Omaha Beach to pay them honor.

[00:16:30] He said, You were young the day you took these cliffs.

[00:16:33] Some of you were hardly more than boys with the deepest joys of life before you, yet you risked everything here.

[00:16:40] Why?

[00:16:41] Why did you do it?

[00:16:42] What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these cliffs?

[00:16:49] What inspired all the men of the armies that met here?

[00:16:54] We look at you, Reagan told the assembled veterans, and somehow we know the answer.

[00:16:59] It was faith and belief.

[00:17:02] It was loyalty and love.

[00:17:04] You were here to liberate, not to conquer.

[00:17:07] Today's the anniversary of D-Day, the 80th anniversary.

[00:17:11] Let me go back to the phones here and get Terry on.

[00:17:14] We have Ray and Bob, too.

[00:17:15] Stay on the line.

[00:17:16] I'll get you guys up next.

[00:17:17] But, Terry, welcome to the show.

[00:17:18] Hey, Pete.

[00:17:20] Hey.

[00:17:21] Today's my birthday, and I'm 69 years old.

[00:17:26] Happy birthday.

[00:17:27] My dad, who died in 2012 at 96 years old, he was a 30-year veteran in the Army,

[00:17:36] and his last years were spent training the National Guard troops.

[00:17:40] But he told me to always revere my birthday because a lot of brave men died on one day in 1944 to secure my freedom,

[00:17:52] and that's one of the reasons we are still a free country today.

[00:17:57] I'll always be proud to be born on June 6th,

[00:18:01] and I just wanted to convey that sentiment from my dad to me all those years ago.

[00:18:06] It still reverberates.

[00:18:08] Yeah.

[00:18:09] Well, Terry, happy birthday, and thanks for sharing that story and the wisdom of your father.

[00:18:13] Thank you.

[00:18:14] All right.

[00:18:15] Take care.

[00:18:16] Thank you.

[00:18:17] Let me go over to Ray.

[00:18:18] Hello, Ray.

[00:18:19] Welcome to the show.

[00:18:20] Hello, Pete.

[00:18:21] How are you doing?

[00:18:22] Hey, I'm well, sir.

[00:18:23] How are you?

[00:18:24] Pretty good.

[00:18:25] Just had a little story here.

[00:18:27] I started off my health care career as a CNA in a nursing home, and I took care of one old gentleman there.

[00:18:36] This was around the year 2002, somewhere in there.

[00:18:41] And he said that he came in and landed at Omaha Beach on D-Day, somewhere, I think, around where the Rangers went,

[00:18:52] and he mentioned something about the Rangers.

[00:18:55] But the way he described it really puts a spotlight on what was going on.

[00:19:01] He said, Have you ever seen an old farm pond in the fall with the leaves floating around on top of it?

[00:19:10] He said, When I jumped off my boat, he said, That's what it looked like with the dead soldiers floating around in the surf.

[00:19:18] And I'll never forget him telling me that.

[00:19:22] Yeah.

[00:19:24] I mean, it was just horrific.

[00:19:27] Just absolutely horrific.

[00:19:28] And when Dr. Bill Forstin talks about how these guys had to jump into the water and make their way 300 yards to get to the first place.

[00:19:42] I forget what he called it, but to get to the first stop before they would then try to take the berms and the cliffs.

[00:19:51] 300 yards is a long way to go.

[00:19:54] That's a long way.

[00:19:55] Yeah, I mean, you think about three football fields.

[00:19:58] And think about the last time you've been to a football game, looking down onto that field and strapping 80 pounds of gear on your back,

[00:20:08] jumping into water, wading through the water while taking fire and mortar shells and barbed wire under the water and stuff.

[00:20:17] And to do that for the length of three football fields.

[00:20:20] It had to have been tough on them young guys.

[00:20:22] Oh, yeah.

[00:20:23] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:20:24] Ray, I appreciate the call, sir.

[00:20:25] Thank you.

[00:20:26] Yes, sir.

[00:20:27] Yes, sir.

[00:20:28] You too.

[00:20:29] And then Bob is up next.

[00:20:31] Hello, Bob.

[00:20:32] Welcome to the show.

[00:20:34] Hey, thank you, Pete.

[00:20:35] Yes, sir.

[00:20:36] Wasn't Reagan called the great communicator or something like that?

[00:20:41] Yeah.

[00:20:42] Yeah.

[00:20:43] And I will say, I consider myself lucky enough that even though I was a young kid, I do remember parts of his presidency.

[00:20:52] And I'm lucky and maybe a little spoiled by it or maybe even a little bit warped because I kind of have that image in my mind, you know?

[00:21:02] I mean, I think that's why I lean right now because he, you know, the way that Reagan kind of, you know, I don't know.

[00:21:12] He was just a he was a great communicator.

[00:21:14] Yeah.

[00:21:15] So a little sweet story and, you know, you'll have to excuse me, but, you know, Churchill called, you know, World War I, World War II the second 30 years war.

[00:21:28] And, you know, I have to say that, you know, from World War I, I, you know, I'm a little sympathetic to the Germans because my family was Prussian.

[00:21:40] And after the loss of World War I in 1918, my family immigrated to the United States.

[00:21:50] And my grandfather and my mom's dad was the first American.

[00:21:57] And when he turned 20, 20 years later, 1940, he went back over to ship type the Germans.

[00:22:06] Wow.

[00:22:07] And yeah. And and I just think how our country's changed so much and how, you know, how back then it was he was an American before he was Prussian.

[00:22:18] He was an American before he was German, you know?

[00:22:21] Yeah.

[00:22:22] And and.

[00:22:26] Well, I will say, Bob, I think there are people like that today.

[00:22:29] I do. I don't I don't think that your your your grandpa was the last one.

[00:22:34] Really, I don't. There are people that are like that today.

[00:22:36] There aren't there in the service right now.

[00:22:38] OK, if you're listening to this podcast, you are obviously paying attention to the world around us.

[00:22:43] You also have really great taste, I might add.

[00:22:46] But if you haven't started getting prepared for various emergencies, I got to ask, what are you waiting for?

[00:22:51] Please call my friends Bill and Jan at Carolina Readiness Supply and they'll help get you started.

[00:22:56] If you have no idea how to start, they can help you.

[00:22:59] If you're an experienced prepper, they can help you to being prepared is just smart.

[00:23:03] We've already established that you're smart.

[00:23:05] I mean, you listen to this podcast after all.

[00:23:07] So let's put those smarts into action.

[00:23:10] Go to Carolina readiness dot com.

[00:23:12] That's Carolina readiness dot com or call them at 828-226-7239.

[00:23:19] Carolina Readiness Supply has 2000 square feet of supplies as well as educational materials that you're going to need for any kind of emergency.

[00:23:27] Veteran owned Carolina Readiness Supply.

[00:23:29] Will you be ready when the lights go out?

[00:23:32] I'm going to close with the reading of the watch that was from the ceremony today in Normandy.

[00:23:39] King Charles spoke at the Normandy ceremonies.

[00:23:46] He said there are fears that the younger generation, especially actually hang on a second.

[00:23:50] This isn't King Charles' direct quote.

[00:23:52] This is from Alexander Larman, but he does quote King Charles here in a minute at the spectator.

[00:23:58] He says there are fears that the younger generation, especially are beginning to lose sight or interest of what D-Day represented for our country.

[00:24:07] Charles said our role is not purely passive.

[00:24:11] It is our duty to ensure that we and future generations do not forget their service and their sacrifice in replacing tyranny with freedom.

[00:24:22] Our rights and the liberty won at such terrible cost bring with them responsibilities to others in the exercise of that liberty.

[00:24:33] In his comments at the British Normandy Memorial, he cited the words of a veteran named George Betts who had suggested that the memorial be built.

[00:24:45] And on the day that it opened, he spoke there and he said we left a lot of mates behind and now I know they will never be forgotten.

[00:24:55] The king also reminded his audience of the words of King George VI who called the liberation of Europe as begetting quote a world in which goodness and honor may be the foundation of the life of men in every land.

[00:25:14] A world in which goodness and honor may be the foundation of the life of men in every land.

[00:25:22] This is from the ceremony as well with the world leaders.

[00:25:29] President Biden was there.

[00:25:31] This was a reading of The Watch.

[00:25:33] There's a brief part.

[00:25:35] It only lasts about 20 seconds.

[00:25:36] That's in French, but you will hear the English version first here.

[00:25:41] In honor of the veterans gathered with us today and those commemorated at this hallowed ground, Lieutenant Commander Catherine Miyamasu will now read The Watch.

[00:26:12] Detail, attention, center, face.

[00:26:23] When a sailor retires, it is traditional that a younger service member read The Watch.

[00:26:33] Today we want to read The Watch for all World War II veterans here today, both behind us and all around us.

[00:26:44] Eighty years ago, these sailors stood The Watch.

[00:26:54] While some of us were in our bunks at night, these soldiers stood The Watch.

[00:27:03] While some of us were in school learning our trade, Marines, airmen, and coasties stood The Watch.

[00:27:17] Yes, even before some of us were born into this world, the men behind me and their brothers and sisters who lay before me stood The Watch.

[00:27:34] In those years when the storm clouds of war were seen brewing on the horizon of history, they stood The Watch.

[00:27:47] Many times they would cast an eye ashore and see family standing there needing guidance and help, needing that hand to hold in those hard times.

[00:28:07] But still, they stood The Watch.

[00:28:12] They stood The Watch 80 years ago.

[00:28:19] They stood The Watch so that we, our families, and our fellow countrymen and women can sleep soundly in safety each and every night, knowing that these veterans stood The Watch.

[00:28:38] Today, we are here to say, World War II veterans, The Watch stands relieved.

[00:28:48] Relieved by those you have trained, guided, and led.

[00:28:56] American World War II veterans, you stand relieved.

[00:29:03] We have The Watch.

[00:29:05] Present arms!