We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
A “HUMBLED” US President Barack Obama led an emotional tribute to the thousands of troops who gave their lives to liberate Europe from Nazism, on the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings that “shaped the security and well-being of all posterity.”
Speaking at Omaha Beach in front of veterans resplendent in military uniforms complete with medals glittering in the sun, Obama said that their sacrifice and bravery had breached “Hitler’s Wall” and secured today’s era of democracy and freedom.
“By the end of that longest day, this beach had been fought, lost, refought and won — a piece of Europe once again liberated and free. Hitler’s Wall was breached, letting loose Patton’s Army to pour into France,” said a visibly moved Obama in a speech interrupted by a lengthy standing ovation.
“Gentlemen, we are truly humbled by your presence today,” he told the veterans, many of whom were confined to wheelchairs and, well into their 80s, were likely marking the anniversary of that historic day for the last time.
“Omaha — Normandy — this was democracy’s beachhead. And our victory in that war decided not just a century, but shaped the security and well-being of all posterity.”
After his speech, Obama warmly embraced a stooped veteran almost half his size before bowing his head alongside French President Francois Hollande at a wreath commemorating the thousands that fell on June 6, 1944.
The two leaders then stood, hands on heart, with saluting veterans standing to attention behind them as a lone bugler sounded out and jets roared a fly-past through a gloriously blue sky.
For his part, Hollande said France would “never forget what it owes the United State.”
“This day, which began in chaos and fire, would end in blood and tears, tears and pain, tears and joy at the end of 24 hours that changed the world and forever marked Normandy,” he said as he opened the ceremonies.
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, dressed in a lime green coat and matching hat, led a service at Bayeux cemetery where nearly 5,000 Commonwealth troops are buried.
Al / TwitterLest we forget the thousands of Irish men who took part in D-day and WW2 for British and Allied forces and we're shunned for doing so
— Al (@TheTeaInEMT) June 6, 2014
‘Diplomatic deep-freeze’
Some 20 heads of states, royals and prime ministers were to mingle with veterans throughout the day at ceremonies on the beaches of northern France, where the biggest amphibious assault in history was launched in 1944.
Dignitaries — including the queen, who at the age of 88 is making a now rare foreign trip, and sparring world leaders Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin — will have lunch together at a grand chateau before heading to the beaches for a solemn international ceremony.
John Kriesel / TwitterPause for a moment today to think about the 150,000 brave men who participated in the D-Day invasion 70 years ago today. Absolute heroes.
— John Kriesel (@johnkriesel) June 6, 2014
‘A hairy time’
Away from the diplomatic dance, veterans marked the occasion with low-key humility.
One British veteran, 89-year-old Ken Godfrey, was applauded by well-wishers who shouted “bravo” and “thank you” as, medals clinking on his chest, he walked the mile-long path to Bayeux cemetery.
“My main memory is wading through the sea with water up to my chest,” he told AFP. “But I don’t like to talk about the fighting. If people ask, I just say we had a hairy time. But I’m lucky that I survived.”
Bob Cowper, a 91-year-old wheelchair-bound Australian night fighter pilot, met his current prime minister Tony Abbott at the Bayeux ceremonies and told AFP that he flew over the beaches on D-Day as the fighting raged below.
“Looking down, even though we were making a contribution, I remember feeling empathy for all the poor buggers fighting on the ground.”
It was Cowper’s first trip back to the beaches where he saw so many comrades cut down but he beamed with pride at being present at the ceremonies.
“It’s wonderful as an old man of 91 – it’s like coming home.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
We can’t comment on the fact that two of the countries with the highest number of asylum seekers are Georgia and Algeria. It is news to me that they are war-torn countries.
@paulinlavally@gmail.com: An asylum seeker doesn’t necessarily need to come from a “worn torn country” for their application to be successful
@SYaxJ2Ts: They have to cross many safe countries to get here and then walk through an open door.
And once again, no mention of the simple fact that the Tonga volcanic eruption last year increased the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere by over 15%, ( it will take 5 years before it completely washes out ) along with the sun’s increased solar cycle activity which this time round will peak early, (late 2024), as governments continue to place the full blame on humanity. We may not be helping the situation, but we should not carry the whole blame!
@Joe x: The IPCC don’t factor the sun’s activity into it’s models so their models are useless and it’s these models that are driving policy here and internationally
@Joe x: no mention of your qualifications as a climatologist, yet here you are spouting nonsense to try and deflect from the facts. The sun’s increased activity does not cause any changes to our climate or did you genuinely not know this?
@Ian:
And yet you give an opinion on sun activity without mention of any qualifications either. Hmmm….
@Ian: so Ian, you think that big ball of light in the sky during the day has no effect on the planet. My good man, the Sun is the basis of everything in the solar system including the climates of all the planets. Now I am not a climatologist, or a scientist, but there are plenty of them out there telling us this about the sun…in fact, that lil bit of scandel for you came from NASA last year…..but if you think it has no effect on the planets climate, there is no point even trying to debate it with you if you truly believe that the main source of energy in the solar system has no effect on the planet.
@Joe x: And what was the cause for last year’s second hottest year on record, without the effects of the Tonga eruption and El Nino out of the picture?
@maritoj: you know when the Tonga eruption was, don’t you, December 2021 when it kicked off. 15 percent more water vapour in our atmosphere, it’s a better Greenhouse gas than CO2. ? BTW, el nino did not occur last year, this year, it’s after kicking off again….and if you read my comment correctly, you will see I made no mention of it in the first place.. and if you want to see the effect of the sun on global, look up a period called the little Ice Age. It was the time that the sun had a peculiar long cycle, and extremes of cold….opposite to now, when we are have an extremely active cycle, but the principle is still valid……do yourself a favour, start listening to some real scientists on the issue and not politicians with a vested interest.
@maritoj: don’t you even think it’s strange that the 2 warmest yeaes recorded are the 2 years since the Tonga eruotion?
Here have a read if this
Especially where they discuss the net warming affect if the eruption due to the amount of water vapour vs dust in the eruotion.
Hello,hello is anyone out there?…..
@John Sleator:
Just nod if you can hear me?
@KTH: Is there anyone home ?
Open the comments. It’s really important that complete strangers know what I think and know what type of person I am or pretend to be.
I can’t remember another year when it lashed so much as this. The garden was saturated easy 80 percent of the entire year. More of a danger of catching rain burn!
@Dan The Man: Yep, wettest I recall…and not just rain..lashing rain..
Plus it’s bloody freezing now..in Nov..apparently 7 degrees below average…hottest year my a@se
Comments closed …
Don’t worry. Individual carbon credits that are linked to social credit scores that are linked to CBDCs that are linked to EU digital ID should sort it all out lads
The rain this year has been relentless. It has to be up there with the wettest years in decades.
Announcing the warmest year on record on a day that’s feckin’ freezing ! Me nads are turning blue here …
Many of you are cheerleaders for the Freemasons or the 17th-century Royal Society Enlightenment subculture, which is the only problem for Irish society.
That subculture insists there are more rotations of the planet than 24-hour days in a year because it suits their RA/Dec or clockwork solar system modelling. These academic fools have extended it to human control of the weather (temperatures) and changing Ireland’s maritime climate into……what?
The last time a society followed empirical imperatives was in 1930s Germany and natural selection, so now it’s our turn to deal with a new monstrosity coming from this petty community.
Met Eireann people are acting against our island culture.
@Gearoid O’Ceilleachair: So glad comments are open for this type of inaneness.
@Gearoid O’Ceilleachair: I missed you Gearoid
Opin de commintz. Freeze peach wha?
So is 2024 going to be a yellow, a green or a red year? Please, please tell us.
Hot & sticky.. The way I like it!
Maybe the wettest???
Who believes this bs?
Being honest it’s hard to care a jot about climate change when we had 9 months of rain this year. If we were baking in heat waves or long periods of dry weather then maybe we’d take notice but it’s wet and cold for much of the year. So to hear people saying it’s the hottest year on record etc it hasn’t happened around here so tell it to someone else.
have your say