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 More than 250 World War Two veterans in their late 80s and early
90s, many of them frail, traveled to Omaha Beach to commemorate the
70th anniversary of D-Day.
For most, it likely will be the last time they are able to witness a
milestone anniversary of the Allied invasion in northern France that
helped bring the defeat of Nazi Germany.
"Whenever the world makes you cynical – stop and think of these
men," Obama told the audience of 14,500 people.
A 21-gun salute and a fly-over by F16 fighter jets shook the
cemetery, where 9,387 white marble headstones mark graves of
American soldiers lost in battle.
"It was here, on these shores, that the tide was turned in that
common struggle for freedom," Obama said, recounting the drama and
bloodshed of D-Day on the sweeping beach that lies below the
cemetery.
 Obama told the stories of several veterans, including 82nd Airborne
Division paratrooper Kenneth "Rock" Merritt, who is from Oklahoma
but now lives in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He was dropped in the
dead of night behind enemy lines, one of the first to reach French
soil.
Merritt, now 90, said he remembered how dark it was, and how
terrifying: "Oh hell, I was standing in that plane, 2:30 in the
morning, and it was rocking people sick, bullets flying everywhere,
and I prayed to God to live 'til daylight," he said in an interview.
"Some guy said, 'Rock, what do you want to live to daylight for?' I
said, "I want to see who's trying to kill me.'"
It was Merritt's first time at a D-Day ceremony in Normandy and only
his second time back since the war.
"I've got a lot of people out there," Merritt said. "I think about
them all the time."
"I MISS MY GRANDFATHER"
Obama has a deeply personal connection to veterans. His grandfather
Stanley Dunham, who helped raise Obama, fought in World War Two,
serving in France six weeks after D-Day.
"I don't think there's a time where I miss my grandfather more,
where I'd be more happy to have him here, than this day," Obama said
in extemporaneous remarks, coming close to choking up.
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His time in office has been defined by the struggle to end lengthy
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, wars that began after the Sept. 11,
2001 attacks on the United States.
Lately, Obama has grappled with a scandal over cover-ups of waiting
times for veterans seeking medical care. He has faced a backlash
over a deal made with the Taliban to release Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl,
a prisoner-of-war in Afghanistan.
Obama has called meeting with wounded veterans the "most searing
moments of my presidency."
In his speech, he described the heroism of several of the new
generation of veterans, including Sergeant First Class Cory
Remsburg, whom Obama first met at the 65th anniversary of D-Day.
A few months later, Remsburg was almost killed by a roadside bomb in
Afghanistan. He has since re-learned to speak and walk.
"This generation – this 9/11 generation of service members – they,
too, felt some tug. They answered some call," Obama told the older
veterans.
"I want each of you to know that your legacy is in good hands."
(Writing by Roberta Rampton, Editing by Alexandria Sage)
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