I want to point to one of the discoveries of the United States of America, Joe Biden.
He ran toward the cliffs above themselves. Does anyone believe they would exact any less from
every American today? These Rangers remembered and reverenced those who gave their lives in battle.
Could they or anyone ever imagine that America would do the same, wouldn't do the same?
They believed America was the beacon of the world. I'm certain they believed
that it would be that way forever. You know, we stand today, where we stand was not safely
found on June the 4th. That's what it became on June the 6th. The Rangers who scaled this cliff
didn't know they would change the world, but they did. It's long said that history has shown that
ordinary Americans can do extraordinary things when challenged. There's no better example of
that in the entire world than right here at Pointe du Hoc. Rangers from farms and cities
in every part of America, from homes who didn't know wealth and power. They came to a shoreline
that none of them would have picked out on a map. They came to a country many of them had never seen
or people they had never met. But they came, they did their job to fulfill their mission,
and they did their duty. They were part of something greater than themselves.
They were American. I stand here today as the first president to come to Pointe du Hoc
when none of those 225 brave men who scaled this cliff on D-Day are still alive. None.
But I'm here to tell you, with them gone, when we hear coming off this ocean will not fade,
it will grow louder as we gather here today. It's not just to honor those who showed such
remarkable bravery on that day, June 6, 1944. It's to listen to the echoes,
because they are summing us, and they're summing us now. They ask us, what will we do?
They're not asking us to scale these cliffs. They're asking us to stay true to what America
stands for. They're not asking us to give or risk our lives, but they are asking us to care
for others in our country more than ourselves. They're not asking us to do their job. They're
asking us to do our job, to protect freedom in our time, to defend democracy, to stand up
aggression abroad and at home, to be part of something bigger than ourselves. My fellow
Americans, I refuse to believe, I simply refuse to believe that America's greatness is a thing of
the past. I still believe there's nothing beyond our capacity in America when we act together.
We're the fortunate heirs of a legacy of these heroes, those who scaled the cliffs
of Pointe du Hoc, and must also be the keepers of their mission, the keepers of their mission,
the bearers of the flame of freedom that they kept burning bright. That, that is the truest
testimonial to their lives. Our actions every day ensure that our democracy endures and the
soul of our nation endures. To come here simply to remember the ghosts of Pointe du Hoc isn't enough.
We have need to hear them. We have to listen to them. We need to listen to what they had.
We need to make the solemn vow to never let them down.
God bless the fallen. God bless the brave men who scaled these cliffs. May God protect our troops.
God bless America.
