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It was on this day in 1944 that 150,000 soldiers from the USA, the UK and its dominions, and various Allied nations (some of them whose homes were under German occupation) stormed ashore at five beaches in Normandy, facing deadly enemy fire as they began the liberation of France. The fleet that carried them across was so large that all the military vessels in the world today combined would not equal its total numbers. The sky was filled with Allied planes, sweeping Hitler's Luftwaffe from the air as these young men - their average age around 24 - waded ashore from the ramps of their Higgins boats, into a firestorm of machine gun bullets and heavy artillery. By nightfall some 10,000 of them would be dead, and thousands more wounded. But the beachheads were secured, and the tanks and jeeps and troop carriers were able to come ashore. Hitler's Fortress Europe was breached, and although a year of bitter fighting remained, his fate was sealed.

The men who made the D-Day landings are nearly all gone now. The handful who gathered at Normandy today may be the frail, white-haired relics of a byegone generation, but we should never forget that when they were young, they saved the world. They were Catholics and Protestants, Democrats and Republicans, socialists and liberals and conservatives. There were even a few Muslims and Hindus fighting under the banner of Great Britain. Some were sons of the rich and famous, including Theodore Roosevelt's son Ted, who won the Medal of Honor for his heroism that day. They came from every walk of life in many nations, unified in their determination to crush fascism and put an end to Hitler's empire of hatred.

Some have attempted to politicize this anniversary, both here in Amerca and abroad. That is their right, but it is also a disservice to those who fought. You see, those young heroes at Normandy were fighting for FREEDOM. They fought for their descendants' right to be liberal or conservative, to be Republican or Democrat, to support everything the government does, or to criticize everything the government does. They fought for your right to vote, and for your right to refrain from voting. The second World War was many things, but above all it was about the free world rejecting tyranny and hatred and government-sponsored bigotry. That is a lesson we forget at our peril. This isn't an anniversary that belongs to any one party or faction. It belongs to ALL of us who cherish freedom, and that is a value that ALL Americans should share.