D-Day 67th Anniverary. "The Boys of Pointe Du Hoc"

Today June 6th is D-Day the date US and Allied forces finally landed on the beaches of Normandy, France to begin the process of liberating the European Continent.  Europe had been under control of the Nazis for three years and the invasion of Europe had been planned for most of that time.  The D-Day invasion was the largest amphibious invasion in modern warfare history.

On this day in 1984, on the 40th anniversary of D-Day, the day of the allied invasion of Normandy which helped free Europe from Nazi occupation, President Ronald Reagan gave one of his greatest speeches paying tribute to those who gave their lives.

"These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc," President Reagan intoned, pronouncing it, after a heated administration debate, American-style ("Point Due Hawk"), with no risk of flubbing the French pronunciation during a speech timed for American morning TV. "These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war."Reagan was of course speaking to the very veterans of the 2nd Ranger Battalion who took the cliffs in one of the most dangerous missions of the war. These men were seated before him and on this 55th anniversary of D-Day this video is a tribute to their honor.