by Christi Parsons
NORMANDY, France -- Standing on the shores of the historic Omaha beach landing, President Obama today paid tribute to the thousands of servicemen who gave their lives in the D-Day invasion and cast it as inspiration for the "hardships and struggles of our time."
In a speech to a sea of veterans and their families, Obama recalled the hell of German fire that rained down on the troops as they took the beaches of Normandy, which he called "the story of America."
"It is a story that has never come easy, but one that always gives us hope," he said. "For as we face down the hardships and struggles of our time, and arrive at that hour for which we were born, we cannot help but draw strength from those moments in history when the best among us were somehow able to swallow their fears and secure a beachhead on an unforgiving shore."
The 65th anniversary of the invasion falls as the new American president works to build new world alliances to fight violent extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan, contain the proliferation of nuclear weapons and support peace in the Middle East.
The ceremonies came at the end of Obama's mission through the Middle East and Europe, in which he pressed world leaders for support in those initiatives. Alongside the president for the Normandy event were the heads of state of France, Canada and Britain, allies in the mission of June 6, 1944, as well as their erstwhile adversary, Germany.
See the rest of Christi Parson's report on Obama at Normandy below the page-fold, concluding a trip that started in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and centered on an address to the Muslim world on Thursday, and see the full text of the president's D-Day address here in the Swamp
French President Nicolas Sarkozy compared the fight against Naziism and Fascism to the current challenge.
"We know how far we still have to go," said Sarkozy. "We know it is a long and difficult way. But we also know how much a united Europe and an America true to its values can achieve together."
As an American and French flags waved overhead, Obama recounted the story of the D-Day invasion, in which his own grandfather, a surrogate father to him, took part.
For centuries, no invader had ever been able to cross the English Channel into Normandy, and it was never more difficult than it was that day.
Adolf Hitler had ordered the fortification of the Atlantic Wall against a seaborne invasion, and the steep cliffs from Norway to southern France were lined with machine guns and artillery, the beaches with sharpened poles and mines.
The Allies attacked at dawn. The British air corps had tried to strike the cliffs while airborne troops parachuted behind the enemy lines, but bad weather thwarted the strikes and the paratroopers missed their mark. So the troopers taking the beach at Omaha faced overwhelming resistance, and many died before ever leaving their ships.
Nevertheless, Allied troops reached the shore, at beaches they called Omaha, Utah, Juno, Gold and Sword. Paratroopers regrouped, Rangers climbed the cliffs. By the end of the day, as the president put it, "the ground on which we stand was free once more," which he called a tribute to the "clarity of purpose" with which the Allies waged war.
The veterans gathered at the beach on Saturday, said Obama, "remind us that, in the end, human destiny is not determined by forces beyond our control."
"You remind us that our future is not shaped by mere chance or circumstance," he said. "Our history has always been the sum total of the choices made and the actions taken by each individual man or woman. It has always been up to us."
Among those present for the ceremony were Susan Eisenhower, granddaughter of the president who began the Normandy mission with the simple charge, "Okay, let's go."
Tom Hanks, whose movie "Saving Private Ryan" portrayed the devastation of the invasion, sat near former senator Bob Dole, a World War II veteran.
Also seated in the audience was Obama's great uncle Charles Payne, who was part of the first American division to reach and liberate a Nazi concentration camp.
Before the ceremony, President and Michelle Obama walked by troops representing the U.S., French, Canadian and British forces, then met with veterans of the D-Day invasion at a spot
overlooking Omaha Beach,
One of them was Ben Franklin of Knoxville, Tenn., who recalled storming the beach as a young sergeant machine gunner.
After years of speaking and lecturing on the experience, he said Saturday was his last.
"This will be the end," he said. "I will go home and relax now."
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