Go And Remember

We know the dark forces that these heroes fought against 80 years ago.  They never fade.  Aggression and greed, the desire to dominate and control, to change borders by force -- these are perennial.  And the struggle between a dictatorship and freedom is unending. 

To surrender to bullies, to bow down to dictators is simply unthinkable.  Were we to do that, it means we'd be forgetting what happened here on these hallowed beaches. 

Make no mistake:  We will not bow down.  We will not forget. 

Let me end with this.  History tells us freedom is not free.  If you want to know the price of freedom, come here to Normandy.  Come to Normandy and look.  Go to the other cemeteries in Europe where our fallen heroes rest.  Go back home to Arlington Cemetery. 

Tomorrow, I will pay respects at Pointe du Hoc.  Go there as well and remember: The price of unchecked tyranny is the blood of the young and the brave. 

In their generation, in their hour of trial, the Allied forces of D-Day did their duty.  

-- Remarks by President Biden Commemorating the 80th Anniversary of D-Day, Collevile-sur-Mer, France (6 June 2024)