May 31, 2004
Freedom on the beaches,
of foreign lands, sea, and sky,
here we mark the price.
Thank you for that one, Paper.
Posted by: Valerie at June 2, 2004 07:49 AMAn “advance copy” of French Ambassador Jean-Davie Levitte’s speech that he is going to give at the French embassy here in DC on Thursday came across my desk. Since it has now been released to the newspapers I won’t get in trouble for saying anything about it.
He is going to bestow the Legion of Honor on 100 American D-Day veterans. The veterans will then board a special Air France flight to attend the D-Day activities in Normandy.
His speech will “pay tribute” to their risking of their young lives for a country that was not even theirs.
His “advance copy” speech reads, in part: “We will never forget. France will never forget. Europe will never forget. I want you to know that for all of us, for all the French people, you are heroes.”
PS. I walked down and saw the new monument yesterday. Boy, it’s very nice.
Andy -
Thanks for the scoop.
I'm sure the veterans receiving the award will be pleased.
Glad you got to see the monument...
Posted by: Valerie at June 2, 2004 05:24 PMFree^dom on the bea`ches
_ I biffed it.
it's supposed to be 5 - 7 - 5
Paper, you are not the only one to "biff" it.
Roosevelt’s speech from December 8, 1941, the day after Pearl Harbor is engraved on a wall at the monument.
His famous speech of “Yesterday, December 7, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the Untied States of American was suddenly and deliberately attacked.” It continues, “With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounded determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph--so help us God.” (emphasis mine).
Guess which words were not put on the monument?
How hard do you think it would be to get a colony of fire ants into the ACLU's offices?
Posted by: Doug at June 5, 2004 01:12 PMI need to add a postscript to my post.
I am not necessarily upset for religious reasons that they left off the phrase. More so because of the “reversionary history” standpoint of the editing.
At the time of the speech it was extremely important for him to say “so help us God”. That was the national makeup and the beliefs as a whole of the US at that time. To edit his speech leaves an important piece of history out.
