The price you paid was tremendous. I have seen the graves of men not yet 19 years old. They could not have known for what they were dying. If we could have found them, we would have told them. Passions and memories have long lives in Europe.
Traditions become immutable customs, and history is a normal part of the life of most people.
I saw, amid the concrete fortresses built by Rommel on the beach, a simple Norman stone tower with arrow-slits and a place for a signal fire on top. I asked a Frenchman. We did to protect against the Black Prince. The reference was to the English warrior prince who invaded France and captured the French king in 1356. I believe the people of Normandy will continue to recall the invasion, a turning point in world history, and to praise the memory of our troops long after all of the participants are dead.