[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 89 (Thursday, June 24, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7411-S7412]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       60TH ANNIVERSARY OF D-DAY

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, the hour is late, and I know we will be 
wrapping up in about 30 minutes or so. There is a lot of business with 
the recess tomorrow--and we will be in tomorrow--and we will be 
wrapping up tonight. It will take a while to wrap up. We will be doing 
that in about 30 minutes or so.
  Thus, I would like to take a few minutes to come to the floor and 
take advantage of the time to talk about the fascinating trip I had the 
opportunity and the privilege to take about 3 weeks ago. I had the 
privilege of traveling to Normandy, France, to celebrate the 60th 
anniversary of the D-day landings.
  That same week, as my colleagues know, we suspended business on the 
floor of the Senate to pay tribute to President Ronald Reagan--again, a 
wonderful week in that the messages were delivered and the tributes 
were shared.
  In the midst of that, however, I did not have the opportunity to 
share with my colleagues some of my experiences from the D-day 
celebration in Normandy, France, and thus I would like to take this 
opportunity to do that.
  This particular journey took with two of our colleagues, Senator Bob 
Bennett and Senator John Ensign. The three of us had a truly 
extraordinary experience. We spent the previous 2 days in Baghdad, 
Iraq, and in Kuwait, and then flew from Baghdad to the U.S.-French 
binational ceremony at Omaha Beach.
  Back in 1944, in the thick of war, Fortress Europe was the strongest 
at this point, reinforced with layers of obstacles, mines, and gun 
positions with hardened bunkers. Some of those structures are still 
there today. You can see the remnants of others. These remnants stand 
today almost as ghostly reminders of those battles that I had the 
opportunity to hear described firsthand by the veterans who had come 
back for the celebration.
  At Normandy, Nazi forces were commanded, as we all know, by none 
other than Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, the ``Desert Fox'' of North 
Africa fame who was regarded as the finest, the very best field 
commander in the German Army. He won practically every battle he 
enjoined. His defenses were considered impenetrable.
  In the early morning of June 6, 1944--of course, that was the day so 
many years later that we were there--American soldiers, mainly from the 
1st Infantry Division and 29th Infantry Division, landed at that beach 
we visited now several weeks ago. They were supported by the Army Air 
Force flying over and Naval gunfire. They struggled forward inch by 
inch, out of boats up the beach, as fellow soldiers were literally cut 
down one by one, wounded, and killed in this hail of enemy gunfire.
  We have all read about what went on at that beach, but to have that 
opportunity to hear firsthand, as we walked along the ridge above that 
beach, from people who were there. Many of them had not talked a lot--
at least they said they had not talked a lot about their experience. 
They seemed to open up as we were there. Many of them were there at the 
age of 16, 17, 18, or 19 years of age. And they all described the 
battle raging. Body counts swelled, and many expressed doubt that they 
would succeed--they described it as such--that every second seemed like 
an eternity.
  It was clear that in spite of all this, soldiers, through boldness 
and through courage, persevered.
  Further down the beach, the U.S. Army Rangers had scaled the cliffs 
at Pointe du Hoc and knocked out the German artillery positions that 
were there to disrupt any invasion force.
  By the end of that blood-soaked day, our American boys had pierced 
that Atlantic wall. They seized their objectives. And, as history would 
prove, because we had the opportunity to celebrate, they launched the 
liberation of Europe.
  Thousands of American soldiers perished in those few hours. Their 
heroism today is marked by the familiar pictures today with television 
and C-SPAN and video--the familiar pictures of all of those white 
crosses against that green grass and the Stars of David, all in very 
neat rows. Wherever you stand, you see them lined up parallel, 
horizontally and vertically, or diagonally. Wherever you stand, the 
symmetry jumps out at you. It goes on for acres and acres. I have no 
idea how big it is. But these crosses go on for acres.
  There is a little path where the beach is right below. You can walk 
along these winding paths of the cemetery. As you do so--especially, I 
think on this day, when the sky was bright blue, the white crosses, the 
green grass--there were veterans by the hundreds and, indeed, by the 
thousands with their family members, with, obviously, their daughters, 
sons, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren huddling around them as 
they walked along those paths. One could not help but admire their 
bravery, their boldness at a time in their life when they were very 
young, at a time they had to be uncertain; they were far away from 
home, fighting a ruthless enemy. Each cross and each star, obviously, 
represents a young man, a young person who died on June 6th, 1944, 
defending his country.

  The crowds would gather as we were there. A lot of people had come 
in. There was a lot of security at the gathering to hear President Bush 
and President Chirac. As the crowd gathered, we were seated amidst the 
sea of veterans. Usually they put the officials in one or two rows, 
separated, but, no, you would sit in the audience surrounded by scores 
and scores of veterans.
  A few minutes ago I called Congressman Charlie Rangel to talk about 
another bill we will be talking about later tonight. In that 
conversation I was reminded of the fact that 2 weeks ago he was there. 
He called me over to meet several veterans from New York. There was 
another woman, Grace Bender, a neighbor of mine in Washington, DC. I 
had no idea I would see her there. She was there a few rows away with 
her father, of whom she was clearly so proud.
  The veterans were gathering with their buddies and with their family 
members, with their shipmates, with their fellow crewmen. Even after 60 
years, they clearly regarded these colleagues, these comrades in arms, 
as brothers, bonds forged over that period of a day, weeks, and those 
months in the midst of this war.
  I vividly remember standing for the national anthem. As we all stood 
up, the first people on their feet were those veterans, the ``greatest 
generation.'' They were the first to stand. I also noted, they were the 
ones who would be singing the loudest. They seemed to stand the 
tallest. Their love of country clearly had even grown over time.
  President Bush spoke and delivered captivating remarks. President 
Chirac also delivered stirring remarks. They both recounted specific 
moments and acts of heroism on D-day. We honored those who gathered and 
we paid tribute to those who were no longer with us, the soldiers and 
the sailors and the airmen who had made that ultimate sacrifice for the 
cause of freedom.
  The ceremony ended with a ceremony of honor guards. Again, my heart 
filled with awe and admiration to be able to walk with those veterans 
on that D-day celebration. They were then, and they clearly remain 
today, true heroes.
  After the ceremony, my colleagues and I boarded a bus to the town of 
Bayeaux, a small French village that was spared the heavy fighting and 
bombing on D-day and of the weeks that followed. As we rode the bus 
through the countryside, we passed through beautiful green fields, 
hedgerows, and small towns of the French countryside that were showered 
in 1944 by the American paratroopers of the 101st and the 82nd Airborne 
Divisions, the night before those Normandy landings.
  I specifically mention the 101st because this past weekend I had the 
opportunity to be in Clarksville, TN, and Fort Campbell, KY, and had 
the opportunity to witness an air show in which the 101st Airborne 
participated. You can see dramatically their training exercises.
  While I was in Kentucky last week, again, I was thinking back to what 
happened in 1944 when these paratroopers of the 101st and 82nd Airborne 
Divisions paratrooped in the night before. Thousands of those 
paratroopers, as we all know, were killed. Many of them drowned. Many 
were wounded that night. Many were wounded on the

[[Page S7412]]

jump itself. The mission was specifically to jump behind enemy lines to 
distract the Nazis and seize important strategic or key terrain and to 
disrupt the Nazi reinforcements. Their heroism and success were 
ultimately crucial to the allied victories at Omaha Beach, at Juno, at 
Sword, and at Gold.

  When we arrived in Bayeaux, we were greeted by the President of the 
French Senate. We had the opportunity to have lunch there with 33 
members of their Senate. We also met with the town mayor, and many of 
the town citizens came out to speak of this. I don't speak French, but 
as I went over to the side and shook hands and introduced myself to an 
interpreter, immediately a smile came on their faces with an expression 
of appreciation and thanks.
  Among the people we had the opportunity to meet were many survivors 
of war who had been small children at the time of the occupation. They 
did recall D-day and the American GIs who liberated their villages.
  They treated us to a wonderful luncheon that day and, once again, 
representing America as officials, U.S. Senators from America, we were 
showered with praise and thanks, as well as a promise of continued 
friendship and alliance. This was a group of French Senators, so I did 
not expect that at the time, but that is what we received.
  Our final event for the day was also very special. It was the 
multinational ceremony at Arromanches. We were joined by gatherings of 
heads of state from around the world, senior officials from countries 
around the world, and a number of our allied nations. We watched a 
whole range of demonstrations by various multinational military 
marching units. We had flyovers occur where a number of these nations 
demonstrated the very best of their aircraft in precision flights 
overhead. They had a wonderful multimedia presentation that combined 
the best of dance and video and audio to recount that history of World 
War II with a very special focus on Normandy.
  During the final ceremony of the day, in which President Chirac 
delivered remarks, we did have the opportunity to reflect on those 
larger contours of the war and how America and her allies united to 
defeat tyranny and oppression.
  As we sat among the survivors of D-day and as we listened to 
America's veterans recount their fears and exploits, I could not help 
but draw comparisons between the veterans of World War II and our proud 
troops serving abroad today, the very same troops which 2 days prior my 
colleagues and I had the opportunity to visit in Baghdad and in Kuwait. 
The parallel is there, not just because of the temporal relationship, 
but because of both groups' commitment to freedom and democracy and to 
a better life for others.
  America was blessed in World War II on that June 6th, so long ago, 
yet so close, as it is now, to have the very same soldiers who have 
that strong character, who have that courage, that boldness, and that 
determination. Young patriots, then, as now, answered the call of duty, 
and through their bravery and through their selfless determination, 
they fought and they won the battle for freedom and security.
  It was these traits that inspired a whole succession of American 
Presidents, including the late President Reagan to whom we paid tribute 
2 weeks ago. He believed in a Europe and a world whole and free of the 
shadow of communism. The ``greatest generation'' threat involved nazism 
and fascism. For nearly 50 years, America confronted another hegemonic 
ideology, that being communism. Under the leadership and vision of 
President Reagan, we emerged from the cold war victorious and, as 
Margaret Thatcher rightly reminds us, without firing a single shot.
  Today, we do fight a different enemy, but one that is no less 
ruthless, no less determined, no less uncompromising than our enemies 
of those wars past.
  Once again, we must stay the course. Once again, we must have faith 
in our Armed Forces. Once again, we must hold tightly to the belief 
that freedom will prevail. That is our challenge. That is our calling. 
And I truly believe, like generations before us, we will look evil 
squarely in the eye, and we will not flinch, we will not run. We will 
gather up our courage to press forward. We will gather up our courage 
to press forward and defeat the forces of terror and secure the 
blessings of democracy.

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