President Donald J. Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron marked the 75th anniversary of D-Day by paying tribute to surviving D-Day veterans at a ceremony in Normandy, France, June 6, 2019.

Transcript

(upbeat brass music) (audience applauding) (audience applauding)

[Announcer] Please remain standing for the posting of the colors, the playing of the French and US national anthems, and the invocation.

(announcer speaking in foreign language) (“La Marseillaise”) (audience applauding)

♪ Can you see by the dawn’s early light ♪ ♪ What so proudly we hailed ♪ ♪ At the twilight’s last gleaming ♪ ♪ Whose broad stripes and bright stars ♪ ♪ Through the perilous fight ♪ ♪ O’er the ramparts we watched ♪ ♪ Were so gallantly streaming ♪ ♪ And the rocket’s red glare ♪ ♪ The bombs bursting in air ♪ ♪ Gave proof through the night ♪ ♪ That our flag was still there. ♪ ♪ Oh, say does that star-spangled ♪ ♪ Banner yet wave ♪ ♪ O’er the land of the free ♪ ♪ And the home of the brave ♪

(audience applauding) Ladies and gentlemen, please remain standing for the invocation, offered by the US Army Europe Command Chaplain, Colonel Timothy Mallard. (announcer speaking in foreign language)

Almighty God, lord of hosts, sacred to us is the memory of our fallen and the sacrifices of our veterans on these waters, shores, fields and skies. And thus we humbly ask for your holy presence here today in this ceremony. For many nations, their sacrifice poured out in blood, courage and even death to secure liberty for your enslaved children and to smash tyranny, remains our moral touchstone. For so great an act of love, we pray that you will grant them eternal peace and their families lasting comfort. By their courage on D-Day and afterwards, we also pray that you will challenge us to love freedom more than comfort, privilege, or even life itself. And that without thought of cost or reward, we also will recommit ourselves to defend life, liberty, and the pursuit of the common good no matter the cost. Though we are resolute in our request, oh God, we know we cannot achieve this without your divine blessing and guidance. And so lead us as our shepherd, even if it be again through the valley of the shadow of death towards the green pastures of peaceful freedom. All this we ask, oh father of mercy in thy holy name, amen.

[Announcer] President and Ms. Macron, President and Ms. Trump, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer for the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings on 6th June, 1944. Today we honor and commemorate the 9388 interred here, the 1557 names on the Wall of the Missing, and all of our World War II veterans. (announcer speaking in foreign language) Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated. (announcer speaking in foreign language) Ladies and gentlemen, the Secretary of the American Battle Monuments Commission, William Metz. (audience applauding) (announcer speaking in foreign language)

Well good morning ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to our commemoration ceremony of the Normandy landings. And it is indeed an honor for me to be with you today on these sacred grounds of the Normandy American Cemetery to celebrate the 75th anniversary of D-Day, and we extend a particularly warm welcome to President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron. (audience applauding) And to our President and Commander in Chief, Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump. (audience applauding and cheering) To our many distinguished government and military leaders, and to the families of our honored dead, who traveled to these now peaceful and hallowed grounds to bear witness to the valor and the sacrifice of their family heroes resting here. (audience applauding) And to the more than 160 World War II veterans seated here in on this stage, who need no reminders of the horrors of war, and who remember well their comrades who never came home. (audience applauding and cheering) And folks, a very special, special welcome to the D-Day veterans present today, approximately 35, who 75 years ago on Omaha and Utah beaches, and in nearby landing fields, took the first treacherous steps towards liberation, as a watchful world anxiously awaited word of their fate. (audience applauding and cheering) The mission of the American Battle Monuments Commission, folks, is to commemorate and honor the service and sacrifice of United States Armed Forces. We do so by tending the graves and the memorials of our fallen servicemen and women buried and memorialized at 26 American cemeteries around the world. We do so also by preserving the stories, the stories of their deeds and the endeavors of those that fought at their side, courageous actions that bequeath the blessings of freedom to generations yet unborn. 75 years ago this very morning, and yards, simply yards from where each of you are sitting, a generation of young American men joined by French, British, Canadian and other allied actions, nations brothers in arms, did the unthinkable and accomplished the impossible. These men came ashore and fought against tyranny in a massive undertaking unparalleled in human history. It was Archibald MacLeish, the World War I veteran who wrote these words in his poem, “The Young Dead Soldiers”. “They say we were young, we have died, remember us. “They say we leave you our deaths, give them their meaning.” So many gave us their deaths. It is for us, our children, for generations to come to give them their meaning. So our presence here today, it is beautiful, an inspirational cemetery does just that. For the very character of a country can be determined by the way it takes care of its war dead, and is a measure of its very heart and soul. To the more than 9000 Americans who sleep here silently, we give our promise, we will not forget. Each year that we gather here and everywhere they fought and fell, our still grateful hearts are filled by what they did 75 years ago this morning. We shall remember you as when you were reverently, lovingly placed in this hallowed ground. To them and to the World War II veterans with us here today, and in spirit around the world, your service, your sacrifice, will have meaning so long as those who follow you hold high the torch of freedom that you kept burning through history’s darkest hours. Strengthened by their courage, heartened by their valor, born by their memory, let us continue to stand for the ideals for which they live and die. And so today I welcome you as we pause for a brief moment to remember and to rededicate our efforts to the promise of our Commission’s first Chairman, General of the Armies John J. Pershing, that time will not dim the glory of their deeds. Thank you. (audience applauding)

[Announcer] Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the Republic of France, Emmanuel Macron. (announcer speaking in foreign language) (audience applauding)

[Translator] President of the United States of America, dear Donald Trump. (Emmanuel speaking in foreign language) The veterans of the D-Day landings, ladies and gentlemen. The night of the 5th to 6th of June, 1944, the Channel was not only troubled by the menacing fog and the rough crashing waves, for a few hours earlier, since General Eisenhower roared his famous, “Let’s go,” some 1200 warships, 5700 freight ships, loaded with cannons and trucks, tanks and landing crafts, following on the heels of 25 floatilla, sailed towards the south of the Isle of Wight to the rendezvous point called by Operation Overlord military staff, Piccadilly Circus. Ahead of of the tens of thousands of soldiers who took to the seas lay nothing but massive darkness. Barely lit by the glowing lamps from the ships and the full moon. Ahead of these soldiers above all lay the dread of the unknown. A few hours earlier, they had learned the purpose of their mission. Their destinations, Utah, Omaha, Juno, Sword and Gold Beach, were shrouded in uncertainty. Only those who a few months earlier had taken part in the Sicily landings perhaps had an idea of what was to come, a bitter, difficult battle which would certainly claim the lives of many. Tens of thousands of soldiers, drafted or volunteers, most were barely 20 years old, and yet, their days of youth seemed far behind them. Far the rolling hills of Pennsylvania, Kentucky or New Jersey. Far their school years where they had learned a trade, but many had never had a chance to practice. Far from the grueling training that had began in the mountains of Georgia, and continued as Operation Bolero brought them across the Atlantic to the south of England. Far from the months spent amongst the British people waiting for an operation of which they knew nothing. Far from the worried faces of their parents when they left home. Far from the emotional goodbyes to their fiances, to whom they wrote as they left the English shores by candlelight or the flickering flame of the cigarette lighter, one last heartbreaking letter. What was running through their minds? The minds of these young people frozen by the waters of the North Sea. Who knows? Their thoughts are unfathomable, we cannot plunge the minds of human beings. But what resonates still 75 years later is their incredible courage and generosity. The fortitude that carried them towards their destiny, that fortitude that had taken them thousands of miles from home to provide assistance to men and women whom they did not know, to free a land they had never set foot in, with no other compass than a cause that they knew was greater than themselves, the cause of liberty and democracy. Today, France has not forgotten. France has not forgotten those fighters to whom we owe the right to live in freedom. We have not forgotten the 135,000 American, British and Canadian soldiers backed by Belgium, Luxembourg, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Polish, Czechoslovak, Australian, New Zealand, South African, and French troops, landed on the 6th of June on the beaches of Normandy, and forever changed the course of history in Europe and the world. France has not forgotten the thousands of paratroopers who just a few hours earlier had been dropped behind the lines, and with the support of the French resistance fighters, would take hold of strategic bridges, roads and railway lines, and would take over from their brothers in arms who made it out alive from the emerald shores crimsoned by the shed blood. France has not forgotten the 2 million soldiers who at the end of this longest day would continue fighting on for weeks to free the towns and villages of Normandy, and would go through the hell of combat in the Normandy countryside, which was even more treacherous than the combat on the beaches. On behalf of my country, on behalf of France, I bow down before their bravery. I bow down before the immense sacrifice of the 37,000 killed, the 19,000 reported missing, who died as heroes in Normandy between June and August, 1944, and who, for many, were to rest there for eternity. I bow down to our veterans and I say thank you.

We know what we owe to you veterans, our freedom. On behalf of my nation, I just want to say, thank you. (audience applauding)

[Translator] Many of our veterans are here in this cemetery of equals, and they died for our freedom. They are your brothers in arms. They are those who you, Vincent Hines, attempted to save. You volunteered to take part in the second Omaha wave. On the 6th of June, you put yourself at great risk to remove the wounded from the beach under the hail of German fire. The brothers in arms with whom you, dear Paul Worth, fought from the same Omaha beach right through to the Walloon region of Belgium, on the way participating in the Battle of Carentan and the Avranches breakthrough that would free the Brittany region. Your brothers in arms, those who you, dear Charles Gireaux, accompanied through the treacherous Normandy countryside, you who fought nonstop from the 7th of June through to the 8th of July. The brothers in arms who accompanied you for some to the Ardennes region, Luxembourg, and even the countryside of Czechoslovakia. Those brothers in arms who saved you, Stanley Friday, when you were wounded twice in the Sanlo region, and then in the Ardennes. And who gave you the strength to head back into combat until you crossed the Rhine river, where you took part in the liberation of the concentration camps, and saw the faces of the survivors and the faces of the executioners alike. And maybe then, in the raw moment, truth of that moment, you understood what you were fighting for. Your brothers in arms. Of you too, Harold Terrance, you worked first as a radio operator, and then you deliberately decided to go to France to lead military operations in Normandy, France, and in the Rhine region. Dear Vincent Hines, dear Paul Worth, dear Charles Gireaux, dear Stanley Friday, dear Harold Terrance. In recognition of your unwavering efforts for France to regain its freedom, I will, in just a few minutes, award you the The Order of the Knights of the Legion d’Honneur. (audience applauding) The Legion of Honour is the highest distinction awarded by the French Republic. It commends your extraordinary action, your courage, your contribution to the liberation of our country. It is a way for the French nation to say, once again, and 75 years later, that we know what we owe to the United States of America. The United States of America, dear Donald Trump, dear President, which is never greater than when it is fighting for the freedom of others. The United States of America, that is never greater than when it shows its loyalty to the universal values that the founding fathers defended. When nearly two and half centuries ago, France came to support its independence. But we owe you more. (audience applauding) We you owe more, sir. We you owe you, all those who fought, the thousands of civilians who lost their lives and who I have not forgotten, we owe more than medals and words. What we owe you is to show ourselves worthy of the heritage of peace that you have left us. Our debt, worthy of the promise of Normandy. Being worthy of the promise of Normandy means never forgetting that free peoples, when they join forces, can surmount any adversity. The victory against barbarism would never have been possible without the decisive support of the United States, without the millions of men and women, without the support of the American people and American industry. On the beaches of the Channel, in the green Normandy countryside and the highest levels of the military, the armed forces were united. The Allied armed forces were united. It is because the Royal Air Force assisted the Canadian infantry, because the French resistance fighters opened up the lines in Brittany and Normandy and elsewhere to the United States Armed Forces. In decisive moments of the battle, Australians, people from New Zealand, Denmark, and Norwegian Navy officers and Dutch airmen arrived. In the intolerable Battle of the Falaise gap, the Polish tanks made all the difference. And it’s because of that that this wild gamble to free Europe from the Nazi’s hold by way of the sea could be won. We shall never cease to perpetuate the alliance of free peoples. That is what the victorious sides did. Immediately after the Germans and the Japanese surrendered, when they created the United Nations, that is what the United States did when it created the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. That is what, a few years later, the leaders of Europe did in bringing about the European Union. France wishes to continue to support this promise of Normandy understand its purpose. This is what we owe to our homeland, what we owe to countries that share the same values, what we owe to democracy and liberty. The lessons of Colleville-sur-Mer are clear. Liberty and democracy are inseparable. Young Americans died here. They died for their country and they died for the freedom of the world. They knew that. The French who died on the same beaches by their side fell for the liberation of their country. But they also fell so that their nation, once this task completed, would to rediscover its tradition of liberty. We need to be true to their memory, and to do that, we must never sacrifice, we must never renounce what their sacrifice united. The promise of Normandy will be supported by France with all its might, I promise that this will be the case. And this is at the heart of America’s destiny too. President of the United States of America, ladies and gentlemen. All along the roads of France, the beaches from Cotentin to Cherbourg, from Cherbourg to Avranches, from Avranches to Metz, and Metz to Bastogne. Along those roads taken by the heroes we’re honoring here today, as of the summer 1944, all along we see hundreds of milestones. They are decorated with the stars of the American flag and with the flame of the Statue of Liberty. That statue that one of our greatest sculptors gave to the city of New York. These stone monuments serve as a reminder, an indelible reminder, inscribed in the countryside of France, a reminder of what our country owes the United States of America. Their presence resonates, it’s an invitation to us to continue renew the secular pact that unites France, the United States of America, and freedom. I am ready, Mr. President of the United States of America, dear Donald Trump. The people of France are ready. Ready to renew this friendship between our nations that has contributed so much to the history of humanity and that the world expects so much from. We are ready and we will do this. Thank you. Long live the United States of America. Vive la republique, vive la France, and long live the friendship between our two nations. (audience applauding)

[Announcer] Ladies and gentlemen, President Macron will now present the Legion of Honour to five of our World War II veterans. (announcer speaking in foreign language)

[Emmanuel] Monsieur Vincent Hines.

[Translator] Mr. Vincent Hines, on behalf of the French Republic, we award you the award of Knight of the Legion of Honour. (audience applauding)

[Emmanuel] Monsieur Stanley Friday.

[Translator] Stanley Friday. On behalf of the French Republic, I award you the distinction of Knight of the Legion of Honour. (audience applauding)

[Emmanuel] Monsieur Charles Gireaux.

[Translator] Charles Gireaux. In the name of the French Republic, I make you Knight of the Legion of Honour. (audience applauding)

[Emmanuel] Monsieur Harold Terrance.

[Translator] Mr. Harold Terrance. In the name of the French Republic, I make you Knight of the Legion of Honour. (audience applauding)

[Emmanuel] Monsieur Paul Worth.

[Translator] Paul Worth. In the name of the French Republic, we make you Knight of the Legion of Honour. (audience applauding) (audience applauding) (upbeat brass band music)

[Announcer] Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States, Donald. (announcer speaking in foreign language) (“Hail to the Chief”)

President Macron, Mrs. Macron, and the people of France, to the First Lady of the United States and members of the United States Congress, to distinguished guests, veterans, and my fellow Americans, we are gathered here on Freedom’s Altar. On these shores, on these bluffs, on this day 75 years ago, 10,000 men shed their blood, and thousands sacrificed their lives, for their brothers, for their countries, and for the survival of liberty. Today we remember those who fell, and we honor all who fought right here in Normandy. They won back this ground for civilization. To more than 170 veterans of the Second World War who join us today, you are among the very greatest Americans who will ever live. You’re the pride of our nation. You are the glory of our republic. And we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. (audience applauding and cheering) Here with you are over 60 veterans who landed on D-Day. Our debt to you is everlasting. Today we express our undying gratitude. When you were young, these men enlisted their lives in a great crusade, one of the greatest of all times. Their mission is the story of an epic battle and the ferocious, eternal struggle between good and evil. On the 6th of June, 1944, they joined a liberation force of awesome power and breathtaking scale. After months of planning, the Allies had chosen this ancient coastline to mount their campaign to vanquish the wicked tyranny of the Nazi empire from the face of the Earth. The battle began in the skies above us. In those first tense midnight hours, 1000 aircraft roared overhead with 17,000 Allied airborne troops preparing to leap into the darkness beyond these trees. Then came dawn. The enemy who had occupied these heights saw the largest naval armada in the history of the world. Just a few miles offshore were 7000 vessels bearing 130,000 warriors. They were the citizens of free and independent nations, united by their duty to their compatriots and to millions yet unborn. There were the British, whose nobility and fortitude saw them through the worst of Dunkirk and the London Blitz. The full violence of Nazi fury was no match for the full grandeur of British pride. Thank you. (audience applauding) There were the Canadians, whose robust sense of honor and loyalty compelled them to take up arms alongside Britain from the very, very beginning. There were the fighting Poles, the tough Norwegians, and the intrepid Aussies. There were the gallant French commandos, soon to be met by thousands of their brave countrymen ready to write a new chapter in the long history of French valor. (audience applauding) And, finally, there were the Americans. They came from the farms of a vast heartland, the streets of glowing cities, and the forges of mighty industrial towns. Before the war, many had never ventured beyond their own community. Now they had come to offer their lives half a world from home. This beach, codenamed Omaha, was defended by the Nazis with monstrous firepower, thousands and thousands of mines and spikes driven into the sand so deeply. It was here that tens of thousands of the Americans came. The GIs who boarded the landing craft that morning knew that they carried on their shoulders not just the pack of a soldier, but the fate of the world. Colonel George Taylor, whose 16th Infantry Regiment would join in the first wave, was asked, what would happen if the Germans stopped right then and there, cold on the beach, just stopped them? What would happen? This great American replied, “Why, the 18th Infantry is coming in right behind us. “The 26th Infantry will come on too. “Then there is the 2nd Infantry Division already afloat. “And the 9th Division, and the 2nd Armored, “and the 3rd Armored, and all the rest. “Maybe the 16th won’t make it, but someone will.” One of those men in Taylor’s 16th Regiment was Army medic Ray Lambert. Ray was only 23, but he had already earned three Purple Hearts and two Silver Stars fighting in North Africa and Sicily, where he and his brother Bill, no longer with us, served side by side. In the early morning hours, the two brothers stood together on the deck of the USS Henrico, before boarding two separate Higgins landing craft. “If I don’t make it,” Bill said, “Please, please take care of my family.” Ray asked his brother to do the same. Of the 31 men on Ray’s landing craft, only Ray and 6 others made it to the beach. There were only a few of them left. They came to the sector right here below us. Easy Red, it was called. Again and again, Ray ran back into the water. He dragged out one man after another. He was shot through the arm, his leg was ripped open by shrapnel. His back was broken. He nearly drowned. He had been on the beach for hours, bleeding and saving lives, when he finally lost consciousness. He woke up the next day on a cot beside another badly wounded soldier. He looked over and saw his brother Bill. They made it, they made it, they made it. At 98 years old, Ray is here with us today, with his fourth Purple Heart and his third Silver Star from Omaha. Ray, the free world salutes you. (audience applauding) (audience applauding) Thank you, Ray. (audience applauding and cheering) Nearly two hours in, unrelenting fire from these bluffs kept the Americans pinned down on the sand now red with our heroes’ blood. Then, just a few hundred yards from where I’m standing, a breakthrough came. The battle turned, and with it, history. Down on the beach, Captain Joe Dawson, the son of a Texas preacher, led Company G through a minefield to a natural fold in the hillside, still here. Just beyond this path to my right, Captain Dawson snuck beneath an enemy machine gun perch and tossed his grenades. Soon, American troops were charging up Dawson’s Draw. What a job he did, what bravery he showed. Lieutenant Spalding and the men from Company E moved on to crush the enemy strongpoint on the far side of this cemetery, and stop the slaughter on the beach below. Countless more Americans poured out across this ground all over the countryside. They joined fellow American warriors from Utah beach, and allies from Juno, Sword, and Gold, along with the airborne and the French patriots. Private First Class Russell Pickett, of the 29th Division’s famed 116th Infantry Regiment, had been wounded in the first wave that landed on Omaha Beach. At a hospital in England, Private Pickett vowed to return to battle. “I’m going to return,” he said, “I’m going to return.” Six days after D-Day, he rejoined his company. Two thirds had been killed already, many had been wounded within 15 minutes of the invasion. They lost 19 just from the small town of Bedford, Virginia, alone. Before long, a grenade left Private Pickett and he was gravely wounded. So badly wounded. Again, he chose to return. He didn’t care, he had to be here. He was then wounded a third time and laid unconscious for 12 days. They thought he was gone, they thought he had no chance. Russell Pickett is the last known survivor of the legendary Company A. And today, believe it or not, he has returned once more to these shores to be with his comrades. Private Pickett, you honor us all with your presence. (audience applauding) Tough guy. (audience laughing) By the fourth week of August, Paris was liberated. (audience applauding) Some who landed here pushed all the way to the center of Germany. Some threw open the gates of Nazi concentration camps to liberate Jews who had suffered the bottomless horrors of the Holocaust. And some warriors fell on other fields of battle, returning to rest on this soil for eternity. Before this place was consecrated to history, the land was owned by a French farmer, a member of the French resistance. These were great people. These were strong and tough people. His terrified wife waited out D-Day in a nearby house, holding tight to their little baby girl. The next day, a soldier appeared. “I’m an American,” he said. “I’m here to help.” The French woman was overcome with emotion and cried. Days later, she laid flowers on fresh American graves. Today, her granddaughter, Stefanie, serves as a guide at this cemetery. This week, Stefanie led 92-year-old Marian Wynn of California to see the grave of her brother Don for the very first time. Marian and Stefanie are both with us today, and we thank you for keeping alive the memories of our precious heroes. Thank you. (audience applauding) 9388 young Americans rest beneath the white crosses and Stars of David arrayed on these beautiful grounds. Each one has been adopted by a French family that thinks of him as their own. They come from all over France to look after our boys. They kneel, they cry, they pray, they place flowers, and they never forget. Today, America embraces the French people and thanks you for honoring our beloved dead. Thank you. (audience applauding) Thank you, thank you. Thank you. To all of our friends and partners, our cherished alliance was forged in the heat of battle, tested in the trials of war, and proven in the blessings of peace. Our bond is unbreakable. From across the Earth, Americans are drawn to this place as though it were a part of our very soul. We come not only because of what they did here, we come because of who they were. They were young men with their entire lives before them. They were husbands who said goodbye to their young brides and took their duty as their fate. They were fathers who would never meet their infant sons and daughters because they had a job to do. And with God as their witness, they were going to get it done. They came wave after wave, without question, without hesitation, and without complaint. More powerful than the strength of American arms was the strength of American hearts. These men ran through the fires of hell, moved by a force no weapon could destroy, the fierce patriotism of a free, proud, and sovereign people. (audience applauding) They battled not for control and domination, but for liberty, democracy, and self-rule. They pressed on for love in home and country, the Main Streets, the schoolyards, the churches and neighbors, the families and communities that gave us men such as these. They were sustained by the confidence that America can do anything because we are a noble nation with a virtuous people, praying to a righteous God. The exceptional might came from a truly exceptional spirit. The abundance of courage came from an abundance of faith. The great deeds of an army came from the great depths of their love. As they confronted their fate, the Americans and the Allies placed themselves into the palm of God’s hand. The men behind me will tell you that they are just the lucky ones. As one of them recently put it, “All the heroes are buried here.” But we know what these men did. We knew how brave they were. They came here and saved freedom, and then they went home and showed us all what freedom is all about. The American sons and daughters who saw us to victory were no less extraordinary in peace. They built families, they built industries, they built a national culture that inspired the entire world. In the decades that followed, America defeated communism, secured civil rights, revolutionized science, launched a man to the moon, and then kept on pushing to new frontiers. And today, America is stronger than ever before. (audience applauding) Seven decades ago, the warriors of D-Day fought a sinister enemy who spoke of a 1000 year empire. In defeating that evil, they left a legacy that will last not only for 1000 years, but for all time, for as long as the soul knows of duty and honor, for as long as freedom keeps its hold on the human heart. To the men who sit behind me, and to the boys who rest in the field before me, your example will never, ever grow old. (audience applauding) Your legend will never tire. Your spirit, brave, unyielding, and true, will never die. The blood that they spilled, the tears that they shed, the lives that they gave, the sacrifice that they made, did not just win a battle. It did not just win a war. Those who fought here won a future for our nation. They won the survival of our civilization. And they showed us the way to love, cherish, and defend our way of life for many centuries to come. Today, as we stand together upon this sacred earth, we pledge that our nations will forever be strong and united. We will forever be together. Our people will forever be bold. Our hearts will forever be loyal. And our children, and their children, will forever and always be free. May God bless our great veterans. May God bless our allies. May God bless the heroes of D-Day. And may God bless America. Thank you, thank you very much. (audience applauding and cheering)

[Announcer] In honor and remembrance of the fallen, who gave their lives in the service of France and the United States, the President of France and the President of the United States will lay a wreath in their memories, following by a moment of silence. (announcer speaking in foreign language) (“The Washington Post March”) (slow brass band music) Ladies and gentlemen, please remain seated as President Macron and President Trump greet the World War II veterans. (slow brass band music) (slow brass band music) (“The Washington Post March”) Please rise and remain standing as we salute those whose final resting place is this hallowed ground.