The D-Day invasion of Nazi-occupied France helped spur 70 years of democracy in the world, said US President Barack Obama as he paid tribute in Normandy to the hundreds of Americans killed and wounded in the operation.
“America’s claim, our commitment to liberty, our claim to equality, our claim to freedom and to the inherent dignity of every human being, that claim is written in the blood on these beaches and it will endure for eternity,” Mr. Obama said during a ceremony at the American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer.
“Omaha, Normandy, this was democracy’s beachhead ... From Western Europe to east, from South America to South-east Asia, 70 years of democratic movements spread,” he added. “None of that would have happened without the men who were willing to lay down their lives.”
French President Francois Hollande said his country would never forget the sacrifices of the US soldiers, adding that the two nations’ friendship “affirms the strength of human rights in the face of hatred and tyranny.”
