[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 113 (Wednesday, June 12, 2019)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 27501-27502]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-12552]
[[Page 27499]]
Vol. 84
Wednesday,
No. 113
June 12, 2019
Part IV
The President
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Proclamation 9904--National Day of Remembrance of the 75th Anniversary
of D-Day
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 84 , No. 113 / Wednesday, June 12, 2019 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 27501]]
Proclamation 9904 of June 6, 2019
National Day of Remembrance of the 75th
Anniversary of D-Day
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
On June 6, 1944, D-Day, more than 130,000 American and
Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy, France,
and thousands more parachuted in behind enemy lines, on
a mission to retake Europe from the control of Nazi
Germany. The night before the operation, the largest
amphibious assault in the history of war, General
Dwight D. Eisenhower issued a message to the Allied
Expeditionary Force: ``The eyes of the world are upon
you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people
everywhere march with you . . . We will accept nothing
less than full victory.'' Seventy-five years later,
these words remind us of the magnitude of the day and
of the heroism of the thousands who waded onto the
beaches, parachuted into the countryside, and gave
their all to change the course of history and to bring
liberty to millions.
On that fateful June morning, before dawn, paratroopers
from the Army's 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions,
among others, fell in behind enemy lines. Shortly
thereafter, the first wave of American, British, and
Canadian infantry divisions, which had crossed the
English Channel in 7,000 vessels and landing craft,
rushed forth onto the five beaches of the targeted 50-
mile stretch of the French coastline, codenamed Utah,
Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword.
Awaiting these brave men was a shoreline littered with
anti-landing obstacles, landmines, bunkers, and
strategically positioned machine-gun nests. These
defenses inflicted devastating losses on the Allied
forces. 1,465 Americans perished on the beaches of
Normandy that day. On Omaha Beach--the bloodiest of the
five--the U.S. Army's 1st and 29th Infantry Divisions
suffered horrific losses: 2,400 soldiers were killed or
wounded by day's end.
Secure in the nobility of their cause and driven by
love of country, the heroes of D-Day pressed forward
against the German onslaught. Through their gallantry
and dedication to duty, they overwhelmed the enemy and
secured a beachhead that allowed wave after wave of
infantry to push onto the continent. By day's end, the
D-Day forces had pried open Europe's northern door--so
tightly sealed by the Nazis for years. Through that
door streamed the forces of liberation, which
ultimately ended the war, ended the horrors of the
Holocaust, ended the tyrannical Hitler regime, and laid
the foundations of a peace that persists to this day.
Today, we pause to remember and honor all of the brave
soldiers, sailors, and airmen whose selfless sacrifices
catalyzed the deliverance of oppressed people and
secured freedom for decades to come. May we always be
true to the virtues and principles for which this D-Day
generation--the Greatest Generation--paid so dearly. As
we mark 75 years since the D-Day landings, we recognize
that their legacy grows ever more meaningful with time.
The story of America will forever include the valor and
sacrifice of the intrepid servicemen who took those
beaches in northwest France on June 6, 1944.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution
[[Page 27502]]
and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim
June 6, 2019, as a National Day of Remembrance of the
75th Anniversary of D-Day. I call upon all Americans to
observe this day with programs, ceremonies, and
activities that honor those who fought and died so that
men and women they had never met might know what it is
to be free.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand
nineteen, and of the Independence of the United States
of America the two hundred and forty-third.
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 2019-12552
Filed 6-11-19; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F9-P