This video production celebrates the 75th anniversary of D-Day, as well as its importance to the overall history of our country. It features new footage of the Normandy area and American Military Cemetery, as well as a voiceover by retired Navy SEAL Jocko Willink. (U.S. Navy video by Austin Rooney/Released)

Transcript

[Narrator] It’s been said that the most important thing every man should know, is what he is willing to die for. On the distant shores of a quiet beach in the north of France, there is a field dotted with thousands of white headstones, solemnly overlooking the English Channel.

Those headstones mark the final resting place of courageous servicemen. Some English, some Canadian, and of course, American. To this day, the locals refer to them all as the liberators.

75 years ago, these brave souls stormed toward heavily fortified enemy positions, manned by battle-hardened Nazi soldiers. These servicemen fought to liberate the world from darkness. They fought for the ultimate human ideal. The ideal that America is built upon, freedom.

And for that ideal, they laid down their lives on that altar. The altar of freedom.

The grit they embodied was not new. Their warrior spirit was forged through a proud history of courage and selfless sacrifice.

From Lexington and Concord, to the battlefields of Gettysburg, Shiloh, and Bull Run, from the muddy trenches on the Western Front, to the forests of Belleau Wood, from the punishing Naval warfare of Midway, to the fields of Sicily, and the jungles of Guadalcanal. When their nation called, they answered.

And while Americans made the ultimate sacrifice around the globe and here on these beaches of Normandy, their spirit lives on.

It lives on through the new recruit, raising their hand, and taking the oath.

It lives on through the Soldier, Sailor, Airmen, and Marine who serve with honor everyday.

It lives on through every veteran who ever wore the cloth of our nation.

It lives on through every American man, woman, and child who serve their communities and look out for their neighbors.

The best way to memorialize these American heroes is to forever embody their spirit, to continue to live by their example, and to never forget the debt we owe all of them for their sacrifice.

Here, among these rows of headstones, are countless stories of selfless bravery, which have been repeated on battlefields around the world, throughout history.

Our debt to them can never be fully repaid, but our responsibility to them remains. 75 years ago, these brave Americans embodied true fighting spirit. Today, and every day that follows, the legacy of their spirit is in our hands.

And, it is up to us to remember them, to honor them, and to ensure that the legacy of their spirit lives on.

Forever.