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Remembering the Boys of Pointe du Hoc

by Craig Shirley

On that day in Normandy in 1984, Ronald Reagan used the right words, struck the right tone, and paid fitting tribute to the D-Day sacrifices of 80 years ago.

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Then-president Ronald Reagan greets former U.S. Army Rangers at Pointe du Hoc in Normandy, France, June 6, 1984.

National Archives

Eighty years ago, on June 6, 1944, Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy in a history-altering battle for the future of humanity.

Forty years later, President Ronald Reagan stood on the lonely and silent cliffs of Pointe du Hoc overlooking the combat zone, addressing an audience that included the queen of England, the king of Norway, the prime minister of Canada, and surviving veterans of the D-Day invasion. They stormed the beaches to save the world from the scourge of Nazism. They were once boys but by then aging men.

Craig Shirley

About the Author

Craig Shirley

Craig Shirley is a presidential historian and Reagan biographer, having written six books on the Gipper including his latest, The Search for Reagan. He is also the author of the best-selling December 1941 and April 1945, among others. He is currently working on books about the 2024 Donald Trump campaign titled Comeback and a book about Winston Churchill. He is the president of Shirley and McVicker, a Washington, D.C., public-relations firm.

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