“When men like Private Zanatta and all our Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy 40 years ago, they came not as conquerors, but as liberators,” said Ronald Reagan on a warm June day in 1984. “When these troops swept across the French countryside and into the forests of Belgium and Luxembourg they came not to take, but to return what had been wrongly seized. When our forces marched into Germany, they came not to prey on a brave and defeated people, but to nurture the seeds of democracy among those who yearned to be free again.”
“We salute them today,” said the Gipper as he looked toward the fields lined with white marble. “We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we may always be free.”