The video is quite long.
From my p.o.v. Trump makes this ceremony. I skipped most of it to listen to him. Noticed elsewhere viewers are catching sight of things they don't care to see, Merkel, John Kerry, American news presenter panels. I skipped past all of that.
* Robert Nelson says:
As a Brit, I simply want to say to our American friends that you have every right to be proud of your President. It has been a very successful State Visit to the UK. Sure, he ruffled a few feathers. That is the Trump way, thank goodness. The ruffled ones deserved it!!!
Always remember, DT has far, far more support in this country than the MSM would lead you to believe. The ‘Anti’ demonstrations were pathetic and well below expectations. Even the BBC couldn’t hide that, though they tried, of course.
Last words for your First Lady: beautiful, serene and astonishing dress-sense.
* Kalena says:
My dad was sitting on one of those boats 75 years ago. His boat landed the 2nd day. Half of those on the boat never made it off the beach. The sand had turned to soggy red mud from the blood. It was constant battles from then on. While in France, the unit my dad was with threatened to shoot the Brits they were with as the Brits wanted to light a fire for a tea break. The Germans would have seen that and killed them all. After the war, my dad never wanted to go back to Europe. He had little regard for the Europeans. He never talked about what he experienced as most of his generation. It was very gruesome. No after action VA support, no recognition of PTSD, nothing. They all came home and started their lives. Heroes all of them.
* GB Bari says:
Remember that propaganda was being used extensively by our government in the Second World War, sometimes to the tune off re-writing history.
I believe the accounts of the men who were there, my now-deceased father-in-law being one of the men who at age 21 landed on Omaha Beach on D+2. He would only say that what he encountered was ugly and defied description.
His unit, the 13th FAOB, is described herein (pdf).
His Army unit held annual reunions all over the CONUS every year beginning on the 10th anniversary of D-Day. Those men (who I met and spoke with once in 1997 when the reunion was in our town) all landed at Omaha with him and were asking the lucky ones who survived the war. Their unit was deliberately not discussed among the thousands who landed that day….their mission was high risk and very “forward” in geography.
My father in law had varying opinions of the Brits and French he met while in theater. His attitude was for various reasons that could all be summed up as “having little common sense and definitely not being combat-aware nor savvy.” His anecdotes sometimes cited fatal blunders made by soldiers of those nations with whom he had to associate. I had forgotten those anecdotes until this thread today reminded me.
* boomerbeth says:
I woke up my 96 yr old dad to watch the ceremony.
He is an Iwo Jima vet. The dept of war drafted him in his sophomore year even though he joined the reserves, & they promised he could finish school. He was very poor & worked his way through college.
I wrote his memoir: “One of the greatest generation”. He remembers names & minute details. He was in the signal Corps as a radio transmitter operator. He set up all the communication lines on Iwo Jima.
After witnessesing the GI’s who were tortured & castrated before he landed, he never wanted anything to do,with Japan.
He slept in a foxhole for weeks until the Seabees arrived & built his team a Quonset hut on top of a mountain. They were far from the troops.
Like Tom Hanks, they collected rain water in a tank, which they rerouted so they could shower. One of the guys hooked up a valve & they had a shower head, the sun warned the water.
After the war, Truman signed the GI BILL so he went right to Law school without finishing his undergrad degree. Grad school was much more sensible, then,
Our VSGPOTUSDJT sent dad a beautiful letter on his 95th.
I presume he does that for all war vets on their birthday.
After all, he has access to all social security & VA data.
You think another contemporary Potus would think of that?
* beach lover says:
Probably one of our President’s best speeches.
*** ParteaGirl says:
Our president is a master storyteller. I was riveted and I wept for the veteran’s sacrifices. It’s not possible to fake the kind of sincerity our president displayed. It was heartfelt and genuine. God bless him!
* Deplorable Canuck says:
Just watching now, tears in my eyes. This man is amazing. Part way through his campaign Trump said, “trust me you will be very proud of your president.” I remember thinking at the time that it was a tall order to make such a promise. But having listened to this fantastic speech this am, I fail to see how you cannot be proud of this President, who has represented not just you, but the whole of the free world today, so effectively, clearly and compassionately. Thank you again America, for voting this man into office. Thank you mister President for honouring our nation’s fallen as well. So glad the job did not fall to the drama teacher!
*** TwoLaine says:
I tho’t his reading of the prayer yesterday was masterful too. I cried through most of it.
*** TwoLaine says:
[The link] still works for me. Here is the direct link on youtube.
5 comments:
Trump has always struck me as a better speaker than most are giving him credit for being.
As to the commenters talking about their relatives' opinions, the Limeys felt the same way about the Yanks, mostly because few on either side were experienced combat vets (the 10 divisions of the BEF were dispersed through Italy and Burma, as well as France); except for the Big Red One and the 82nd, that was also the case on our side.
Many Yanks, no surprise, were also quite provincial and could never understand the fuss people made about Europe.
Macron gave a great speech. Very humble for a Frenchman.
Who the hell invited Merkel??
When I think of D-Day I think of those brave men facing the MG 42 -- something no training could have prepared them for.
I love LOVE LOVE the portions where Trump breaks away from his speech and walks up to the subjects of his speech and says, "thank you" and hugs them. I don't know why that gets me.
It's very effective.
Compare that with other speakers why just keep banging on without making that break that is so intensely deeply personal.
If you must dismiss it as mere salesmanship and not heartfelt then you must admit it is excellent salesman/showmanship.
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