i am not a hero, i just did my job. the real heroes are laying here on the cemeteries. these are our heroes and we should never forget them. [applause] distinguished guests, the 46th president of the united states of america, joseph r biden jr. [speaking french] [applause] president biden: the hour had nearly come, monday, june 5th, 1944. the evil, which devastated the world. nazi germany subgi gaited europe through brute force, lies and twisted ideology of racial superiority. millions of jews murdered in the holocaust. millions of others killed by bombs, bullets, bloody warfare. hitler and those with him, thought democracies were weak, that the future belonged to dictators. here the coast of normandy, battle between freedom and tyranny would be joined here on that june morning the testing was at hand. president macron, secretary austin, secretary blinken, distinguished guests, most of all our honored veterans who met the test of ages to that moment 80 years ago. 80 y
brothers, are here with us today. ken kenneth plane smith is here. he operated a range finder and radar on the first american ship to arrive at normandy s coast, providing direct gunfire support for rangers scaling the cliffs on their daring mission to take out the germans. bob gibeson is here. he landed on utah beach 10 hours after invasion began. bull elts flying everywhere, tracers lighting up the sky. bob drove an m-4 tractor with anti-aircraft con on top, providing protection for infantry against the german air force. on that day and many days after, he continued. ben miller is here, a medic with the 82nd airborne.