D-Day, June 6, 1944

[Rufus T. Firefly]

So Carter is one up on Biden! Never thought that could happen.

He's up on all the rest before him in that activity, too. Have to wonder why all those others could not get there...

Again, walking around there is an experience.

[HONDO74]

There are actually only four American presidents who have visited the D-Day Monument on D-Day. While Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Ford, Carter and George H.W. Bush all visited France after 1944, they were never there on D-Day. Presidents Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson never went to France at all, according to the State Department. Here are the four who did visit Normandy on D-Day anniversaries:

Ronald Reagan attended commemorative ceremonies and delivered the 40th anniversary address in 1984.

Bill Clinton gave a speech at the 50th anniversary in 1994

At the 60th anniversary in 2004, George W. Bush delivered an address in Normandy with French President Jacques Chirac. Previously in 2001, Bush spoke at the dedication of the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia. And in 2002, he spoke at an event in Normandy on Memorial Day, but it was not associated with D-Day.

And the fourth president to speak on D-Day? President Barack Obama, at the 65th anniversary ceremony in 2009, where he dedicated the new visitor center at the U.S. Military Cemetery in Normandy.

President Trump marked the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion in Normandy at a ceremony at the grave site of more than 9,380 American service members who were killed in the World War II landings and the operations that followed.

[healey36]

Don’t forget, Reagan also visited Bitburg in 1985, a personal favor to Kohl. A bonehead move, one he would quickly regret.

[HONDO74]

Don’t forget, Reagan also visited Bitburg in 1985, a personal favor to Kohl. A bonehead move, one he would quickly regret.

Had to look that one up. This is what I found.

Reagan was scheduled to attend the G7 economic summit in Bonn the week of the 40th anniversary of V-E Day. Chancellor Kohl saw an opportunity to demonstrate the strength of the friendship that existed between West Germany and its former foe. During a November 1984 visit to the White House, Kohl appealed to Reagan to join him in symbolising the reconciliation of their two countries at a German military cemetery. It was suggested that the Kolmeshöhe Cemetery, near Bitburg, was both suitably close and relevant, as 11,000 Americans attached to a nearby airbase lived in harmony with the same number of Germans.

Reagan agreed, and later told an aide he felt he owed Kohl, who despite considerable public and political opposition had stood steadfast with Reagan on the deployment of Pershing II missiles in West Germany. In February 1985, then White House Deputy Chief of Staff Michael Deaver made a planning visit to Bitburg. At Kolmeshöhe Cemetery, the 32 rows of headstones were covered with snow. Deaver and his team failed to notice that among them were 49 members of the Waffen-SS. A decision was made by the Reagan team not to include a visit to a concentration camp, as had been previously suggested by Kohl. The President said he didn't want to risk "reawakening the passions of the time" or offend his hosts by visiting a concentration camp.

On April 11, 1985, then White House Press Secretary Larry Speakes informed the media of the planned visit to Bitburg. When asked who was buried at Kolmeshöhe, Speakes said he thought both American and German soldiers were there.

Reporters soon discovered that no American servicemen were in the cemetery (in fact, the remains of all U.S. soldiers had long since been removed from German soil) and that Waffen-SS graves were located close to the proposed ceremony. When questioned, Bitburg Mayor Theo Hallet stated that all German military cemeteries were likely to contain some SS graves. Decorations and memorials on the Waffen-SS graves were removed just prior to Reagan's visit.

Unfortunately Reagan defended himself by saying:
These [SS troops] were the villains, as we know, that conducted the persecutions and all. But there are 2,000 graves there, and most of those, the average age is about 18. I think that there's nothing wrong with visiting that cemetery where those young men are victims of Nazism also, even though they were fighting in the German uniform, drafted into service to carry out the hateful wishes of the Nazis. They were victims, just as surely as the victims in the concentration camps.

I believe I can defend that by saying the same thing about Johnson's Vietnam war. All those that were drafted for a BULL $HIT war were also victims. I remember my 10 year high school reunion very well It was a very sad affair with the plaque they had within a wreath memorial with the 20 some engraved names of those killed in Vietnam

[healey36]

Old guys declare war and young guys (and gals) are sent off to fight it. If the old guys declared war, then were given a rifle to go fight it, I imagine there'd be a lot less of it. It runs counter to the notion that wisdom comes with age.