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![]() The anniversary of D-Day was always special for her family. All I know is that it brings tears to my eyes to think about my father as a 20-year-old boy having to face that beach.” Maybe it’s the bond I had with my father. Private Zanatta’s daughter wrote to me: “I don’t know how or why I can feel this emptiness, this fear, or this determination, but I do. And when they landed, I can feel the strength and courage of the men who took those first steps through the tide to what must have surely looked like instant death.” I can see the looks on his fellow soldiers’ faces–the fear, the anguish, the uncertainty of what lay ahead. I can smell the ocean and feel the seasickness. “He made me feel the fear of being on that boat waiting to land. She tells some of his stories of World War II but says of her father, “the story to end all stories was D-Day.” “In his words, the Normandy invasion would change his life forever,” she said. Those words of Private Zanatta come to us from his daughter, Lisa Zanatta Henn, in a heartrending story about the event her father spoke of so often. I’ll see the beach, the barricades, and the graves.” “I’ll go back, and I’ll see it all again. “Someday, Lis, I’ll go back,” said Private First Class Peter Robert Zanatta, of the 37th Engineer Combat Battalion, and first assault wave to hit Omaha Beach. Some who survived the battle of June 6, 1944, are here today. And at this place of honor, we’re humbled by the realization of how much so many gave to the cause of freedom and to their fellow man. Today we do rededicate ourselves to that cause. But we can only honor them by rededicating ourselves to the cause for which they gave a last full measure of devotion. President Lincoln once reminded us that through their deeds, the dead of battle have spoken more eloquently for themselves than any of the living ever could. No speech can adequately portray their suffering, their sacrifice, their heroism. ![]() About them, General Omar Bradley later said, “Every man who set foot on Omaha Beach that day was a hero.” Men bled and died here for a few feet of–or inches of sand, as bullets and shellfire cut through their ranks. President, distinguished guests, we stand today at a place of battle, one that 40 years ago saw and felt the worst of war. We will always be prepared, so we may always be free.” It ends with the lines: “We will always remember. Private First Class Peter Robert Zanatta, as told by Zanatta’s daughter, Lisa Zanatta Henn. Reagan choked up briefly while delivering this speech, which describes the significance and meaning of the D-Day invasion through the story of U.S. This is the second of two speeches delivered by President Ronald Reagan on Jcommemorating the 40th anniversary of D-Day Invasion. Reagan’s Speech at Omaha Beach on the 40th Anniversary of D-Day
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