Reagan at Pointe du Hoc:
"And so, the night before the invasion, when Colonel Wolverton asked his parachute troops to kneel with him in prayer he told them:
Do not bow your heads, but look up so you can see God and ask His blessing in what we're about to do."
@Peggynoonannyc
On June 6, 1944, a 56-year-old general with a secret walked onto Utah Beach under fire, armed with a cane and a pistol.
The secret: his heart was failing. He had hidden it from the army doctors so they wouldn't pull him from the mission.
His name was Theodore Roosevelt Jr. Son of the President. He had begged three separate times to lead the first wave ashore at Normandy before his commanders finally said yes.
When his landing craft drifted 2,000 yards off course, every instinct said redirect the following waves to the correct zone. Instead, Roosevelt walked the beach himself, alone, under artillery fire, cane in hand, reading the terrain.
His verdict: "We'll start the war from right here."
He then stood on that beach and personally greeted every regiment that landed after him, pointing them inland, cracking jokes under shellfire, steadying 18-year-olds who had never seen combat. He did this for hours.
Years later, Omar Bradley was asked to name the single most heroic act he had ever witnessed in combat.
His answer, without hesitation: "Ted Roosevelt on Utah Beach."
Roosevelt's son, Captain Quentin Roosevelt II, also landed at Normandy that same morning. He was named after his uncle, Quentin Roosevelt, who had been shot down as a fighter pilot over France in World War I.
Three generations. Three wars. One family.
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. died in his sleep 36 days later. Heart attack. The thing he had been hiding finally won. He never learned he had been awarded the Medal of Honor.
He was buried at the Normandy American Cemetery.
In 1955, his family had his brother Quentin, killed in WWI, exhumed from where he fell in France and reinterred right beside him. Quentin is the only World War I soldier buried there.
Two brothers. Two world wars. The same French soil.
Their father had once said: "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
Both of his sons did exactly that.
The people of Normandy showing up for our World War II veterans! What an honor it was to be there with them today! Thank you to the Best Defense Foundation for all you do for our Greatest Generation 🙏🇺🇸
Thank you to all who fought and sacrificed in freedoms defense all those years ago. Incredible footage here. Blessed that both my uncles survived and will never forget the over 400,000 who did not come home.
Today is Higher Education Day.
Who better to explain what that means to Notre Dame than Brady Quinn.
"You go to class at Notre Dame, you're not taking online courses. Marcus Freeman created the mantra 𝘊𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘥 . It's not easy. The expectation is to excel on and off the field."
Notre Dame posted this morning they are #1 in the FBS graduation success rate.
🎥 @TheJustInTime_P via YT.