The Men of D-Day

The clarity, character, and conquests of our Normandy heroes.

Reagan spoke on June 6, 1984, at Pointe Du Hoc (photo by Rod Edmonds/AP).

On June 6, 1984, I sat in front of my television in Holdenville, Oklahoma, and watched President Reagan deliver his famous “These Are the Boys of Point Du Hoc” speech live. Peggy Noonan, the best Presidential speech writer in history, wrote the speech.

“These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc.

"These are the men who took the cliffs . . .

“These are the heroes . . . ”

That speech, considered the greatest given by Reagan, was given forty years ago today. Reagan delivered it to commemorate 2,501 American lives lost during the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe on June 6, 1944.

Sitting before the President in 1984 were 62 surviving U.S. Rangers, 2nd Battalion, who had climbed the Point Du Hoc cliffs to take out the German guns devastating Allied forces in the channel and on the beaches of Normandy. In 1984, these Rangers were middle-aged men, 58 to 68, remembering what they’d accomplished in their teens and twenties.

Tonight,…