Presidential Document2024-12862
National Day of Remembrance of the 80th Anniversary of D-Day
Primary source
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Published
June 11, 2024
Signed
June 5, 2024
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 113 (Tuesday, June 11, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 113 (Tuesday, June 11, 2024)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 49081-49082]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-12862]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 113 / Tuesday, June 11, 2024 /
Presidential Documents
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Title 3--
The President
[[Page 49081]]
Proclamation 10774 of June 5, 2024
National Day of Remembrance of the 80th
Anniversary of D-Day
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
On the evening of June 6, 1944, President Franklin D.
Roosevelt broadcast a prayer for the Nation. At the
time, war was raging in Europe, and Hitler controlled
most of it. Freedom and democracy were under assault
around the world. But on that day, hope had landed on
the beaches of Normandy when 73,000 Americans joined
the Allied forces to carry out one of the greatest
military missions of all time--a mission that would
become known as D-Day. Knowing the fate of the free
world rested in their hands, President Roosevelt asked
our Nation to pray for these courageous service
members' strength as they ``set upon a mighty endeavor,
a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and
our civilization, and to set free a suffering
humanity.'' On the 80th anniversary of D-Day, may we
thank these service members for their bravery and
sacrifice. May we honor their heroism, which liberated
a continent and saved the world. And may we recommit to
the future they fought and which many died for.
The brave Airmen, Coast Guardsmen, Sailors, Soldiers,
and Marines who fought on D-Day faced unparalleled
resistance. Nazi Germany had reinforced the Atlantic
Wall, lining miles of dangerous cliffs and rocky
coastlines with landmines, beach and water obstacles,
and machine gunners while also reinforcing its bunkers.
So, when 7,000 vessels carrying nearly 160,000 service
members from eight Allied countries approached
Normandy, victory was never guaranteed. Our
paratroopers that jumped behind enemy lines in the
night and other military forces had to endure barrages
of gunfire, trek through barbed wire, and climb steep
sea walls. Over 2,500 Americans made the ultimate
sacrifice, giving their lives so that the whole world
might know freedom.
Today, we remember all the Americans who laid down
their lives on D-Day to help end the tyranny of fascism
across Europe, liberate oppressed peoples, and ensure
the flame of liberty would burn bright around the
world. Their success marked the beginning of the end of
Nazi brutality, World War II, and the Holocaust--one of
the darkest chapters in human history. It set the
foundations of an enduring peace that still helps guide
international cooperation and affairs today. We owe
these service members, who represent the greatest of
the Greatest Generation, as well as their families a
debt of gratitude that we can never fully repay.
As we reflect on the sacrifices made on D-Day, we are
reminded that freedom is not free and it has never been
guaranteed. Every generation has to earn it, fight for
it, and defend it in the battle between autocracy and
democracy--between the greed of a few and the rights of
many. Eighty years after our Nation's brave Airmen,
Coast Guardsmen, Sailors, Soldiers, and Marines
embarked on D-Day--and as Americans everywhere answered
the call to prayer and filled their hearts and homes
with hope--may we honor the faith they kept in our
Nation and their legacy by upholding the future that
they died for--one grounded in freedom, democracy,
opportunity, and equality for all.
[[Page 49082]]
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of
the United States of America, by virtue of the
authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws
of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 6, 2024,
as a National Day of Remembrance of the 80th
Anniversary of D-Day. I call upon all Americans to
observe this day with programs, ceremonies, and
activities that honor those who fought and died so that
men and women they had never met might know what it is
to be free.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
fifth day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand
twenty-four, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and forty-eighth.
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(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 2024-12862
Filed 6-10-24; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on June 11, 2024.
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