THIS DAY – AT 11:31 A.M. ET:   This is D-Day, the sixth of June.  It was 71 years ago today that the largest invasion in human history was launched at Normandy, on the coast of France. 

For those of us of a certain age, commemorations of D-Day were major events.  Perhaps the greatest of those commemorations was in 1984, the 40th anniversary, when President Ronald Reagan delivered one of the most stirring speeches of his career, at Normandy, with veterans of D-Day present:

We're here to mark that day in history when the Allied armies joined in battle to reclaim this continent to liberty. For 4 long years, much of Europe had been under a terrible shadow. Free nations had fallen, Jews cried out in the camps, millions cried out for liberation. Europe was enslaved, and the world prayed for its rescue. Here in Normandy the rescue began. Here the Allies stood and fought against tyranny in a giant undertaking unparalleled in human history.

And...

These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. 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.

And...

Gentlemen, I look at you and I think of the words of Stephen Spender's poem. You are men who in your ``lives fought for life . . . and left the vivid air signed with your honor.''

And...

We are bound today by what bound us 40 years ago, the same loyalties, traditions, and beliefs. We're bound by reality. The strength of America's allies is vital to the United States, and the American security guarantee is essential to the continued freedom of Europe's democracies. We were with you then; we are with you now. Your hopes are our hopes, and your destiny is our destiny.

Here, in this place where the West held together, let us make a vow to our dead. Let us show them by our actions that we understand what they died for. Let our actions say to them the words for which Matthew Ridgway listened: ``I will not fail thee nor forsake thee.''

COMMENT:   Compare please the words of Ronald Reagan to what we have today.  I'm afraid we have forsaken, at least for now.

A recurring theme of current commemorations is that we must not permit D-Day to be forgotten.  The youngest veterans of World War II will this year be 87.   Their numbers are diminishing rapidly.  In 13 years, the youngest vet will be 100. 

Will Americans still remember in 13 years?   I think enough will to make a difference.  And if our leadership remembers, that will make a great difference.  Reagan at Normandy showed us that great leadership uplifts the nation.

June 6, 2015