Obama salutes fading D-Day vets - minus one

[jefferson_dem]

Obama salutes fading D-Day vets - minus one
By MIKE ALLEN | 6/6/09 10:25

NORMANDY, France - President Barack Obama, a global symbol of youth and hope, marked the 65th anniversary of the early-morning D-Day landings by saluting 9,000 Americans, many of them teenagers, who gave their lives in a chaotic, terrifying sneak assault that would "change the course of an entire century."

The ceremony - a solemn tribune, but also a celebration of American grit — was held in the serenity of the seaside Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. Row on row of white stone crosses - with a few Stars of David - were each marked by little U.S. and French flags.

One of the president's honored guests — Jim Norene, a member of the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne - didn't make it.

"Last night, after visiting this cemetery for one last time, he passed away in his sleep," Obama told a solemn crowd of vets stretching

farther than most eyes can see. "Jim was gravely ill when he left his home, and he knew that he might not return. But just as he did sixty-five years ago, he came anyway. May he now rest in peace with the boys he once bled with, and may his family always find solace in the heroism he showed here."

The president was accompanied by Michelle Obama. Other dignitaries included French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Britain's Prince Charles and Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

The ceremony began with the playing of the national anthems of France, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.

<SNIP>

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/23430.html#ixzz0Hf03sSNG&D

[Tarheel_Dem]

1. I think I started crying long before he got to the part about the vet who died.

But, after that, I was a goner. I'm watching MSNBC, and Pat Buchanan, YES..that Pat Buchanan made me blubber again. He said he was so moved by the president's speech, and that he was glad the camera didn't pan to him, because he would have been unable to speak.

We all know about this president's superb oratory skills, but he's also a wonderful storyteller. Here I go again...

Thanks for posting this piece.

:edited for spelling

[EffieBlack]

3. I think people are remembering why "just words" do matter

During the campaign, Obama's oratorical skills were often denigrated as "just words" or "mere symbolism." After 8 years of an breathtakingly inarticulate and inappropriately behaving president, many people seem to have forgotten why it matters to have a president who can speak well.

Now we can see, once again, that much of the power of the presidency is based upon words and symbolism. A president with a gift for words and an ability to touch our hearts is an immeasurably effective leader.

[Tarheel_Dem]

4. Effie, I wish I could recommend your post. You guys have got to stop..

or I'll just be an emotional pile the rest of the day. You've just beautifully articulated what's in my heart. Words do matter, and I'm just so grateful to have this young man representing me on the world stage.
:hug:

[jefferson_dem]

5. +1

:thumbsup:

[goclark]

6. EffieBlack that deserves a thread of its own ~ Words Matter!

And MANNERS matter too.

He and his family are gracious and display for the world that "good home training" matters.

After the last Resident in the WH,good MANNERS and brilliance with WORDS should show us how important those qualities are to a Presidency.

Isn't it amazing that the "cowboy" image isn't necessary anymore?

Isn't it amazing that this President, in the 21st Century, doesn't have to lie and say he was a soldier to be qualified to honor our soldiers?

Isn't it amazing that some jumped all over President Obama for not wearing a flag pin,so he put it on and keeps it on -- I loved the way he handled that phony cry out!

President Obama is one class act.

PS/ I forgot to say the way he walks speaks volumes to the world.

Have you noticed that it's not just because he is tall that people are drawn to him - it is the way he walks, the way he talks, the way he smiles that shows the world that he has good home training.

[krispos42]

10. Words paint a picture in our minds

We can't turn our ears off. What we listen to invariably gets etched into our mind, and what our mind sees triggers emotions.

"Just words".... no. Word can be a gift or a punishment. Ask the target of any schoolyard bully.

[lapfog_1]

2. That one got me...

had to find a tissue...

[Froward69]

7. I did not watch it

I only read about it just now...:cry: :cry: Addressing the crowd in French, he saluted the young American president: "Among them , Mr. President, were your grandfather, a sergeant in the U.S. Army, and his two brothers," Sarkozy said, in French. "For all French men and women, Mr. President, you are therefore twice over - by the office you hold and by the blood which flows through your veins - the symbol of the America that we love. . The America that is open, tolerant, generous."

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/23430_Page2.html#ixzz0HfHzisOa&D

I have an Uncle in that cemetery.:cry::cry:

Damn I will be a weeping wreck all day. :cry::cry:

[tilsammans]

8. What a warm way with words our president has!

"Jim was gravely ill when he left his home, and he knew that he might not return. But just as he did sixty-five years ago, he came anyway. May he now rest in peace with the boys he once bled with, and may his family always find solace in the heroism he showed here."

Please pass the Kleenex. :cry:

[Cha]

9. How poignant!

Bless all their sweet hearts.

[rustydog]

11. The man truly honored those who saved the world

"...It's been written about and spoken of and depicted in countless books and films and speeches. And long after our time on this Earth has passed, one word will still bring forth the pride and awe of men and women who will never meet the heroes who sit before us: D-Day...
It was unknowable then, but so much of the progress that would define the 20th century, on both sides of the Atlantic, came down to the battle for a slice of beach only six miles long and two miles wide.

More particularly, it came down to the men who landed here -- those who now rest in this place for eternity, and those who are with us here today. Perhaps more than any other reason, you, the veterans of that landing, are why we still remember what happened on D-Day. You're why we keep coming back.

For you remind us that in the end, human destiny is not determined by forces beyond our control. You remind us that our future is not shaped by mere chance or circumstance. Our history has always been the sum total of the choices made and the actions taken by each individual man and woman. It has always been up to us..."


"...Friends and veterans, we cannot forget. What we must not forget is that D-Day was a time and a place where the bravery and the selflessness of a few was able to change the course of an entire century. At an hour of maximum danger, amid the bleakest of circumstances, men who thought themselves ordinary found within themselves the ability to do something extraordinary. They fought for their moms and sweethearts back home, for the fellow warriors they came to know as brothers. And they fought out of a simple sense of duty -- a duty sustained by the same ideals for which their countrymen had once fought and bled for over two centuries.

That is the story of Normandy -- but also the story of America; of the Minutemen who gathered on a green in Lexington; of the Union boys from Maine who repelled a charge at Gettysburg; of the men who gave their last full measure of devotion at Inchon and Khe San; of all the young men and women whose valor and goodness still carry forward this legacy of service and sacrifice. It's a story that has never come easy, but one that always gives us hope. For as we face down the hardships and struggles of our time, and arrive at that hour for which we were born, we cannot help but draw strength from those moments in history when the best among us were somehow able to swallow their fears and secure a beachhead on an unforgiving shore.

To those men who achieved that victory 65 years ago, we thank you for your service. May God bless you, and may God bless the memory of all those who rest here."
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I have uncles who served and my brother is a Viet Nam vet. I was lucky enough to fail the physical and did not go to Nam. But I am eternally grateful for those who do step up to the plate. My God, where would we be without them?

Thank all of you.