Guno צְבִי
We fight, We win
Biden on D-Day anniversary and Normandy landings: 'Let us be worthy of their sacrifice'
Some of the veterans who came back to France on Thursday for ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day had been among the first to arrive and fight. A crowd estimated at 10,000 to 12,000 attended the ceremony at the Normandy American Cemetery, including four-star officers, more than 150 members of Congress and dozens of members of the French Parliament. Other ceremonies also were scheduled and were expected to draw 25 heads of state.
An ocean breeze floated across the American cemetery, fluttering the small American and French flags on each of the graves of nearly 9,400 Americans killed in the war. Sunlight lit the white marble crosses and stars of David that mark each burial site.
Just off the shore, Navy battleships stood guard in the English Channel. Men in military fatigues looked out over the sea from the grassy hillside where allied soldiers advanced and encountered German machine-gun fire.
One by one, Biden and first lady Jill Biden met with veterans ahead of the ceremony from a glass-backed gazebo overlooking Omaha Beach, where many of the soldiers came ashore eight decades ago. Biden saluted, took photos with each and handed them a coin that he said had been especially minted for the event.
Biden on D-Day anniversary and Normandy landings: 'Let us be worthy of their sacrifice'
From the hallowed ground where many of their comrades rest beneath French soil, WWII veterans accompanied by President Joe Biden commemorate D-Day.
