Obama, With Eye on N. Korea, Hails D-Day Heroes

Obama, With Eye on N. Korea, Hails D-Day Heroes
By JEFF ZELENY
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: June 6, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/07/world/europe/07prexy.html?_r=1&ref=global-home


COLLEVILLE-SUR-MER, France — President Obama led a solemn tribute on Saturday to the valiant Allied soldiers who stormed the beaches here 65 years ago and achieved the triumph of a generation that charted a course for the end of World War II.

“As we face down the hardships and struggles of our time and arrive at that hour for which we were born,” Mr. Obama said, “we cannot help but draw strength from those moments in history when the best among us were somehow able to swallow their fears and secure a beachhead on an unforgiving shore.”

With a new era of threats gathering, Mr. Obama and the leaders of France, Great Britain and Canada paused to reflect upon the heroics that took place during the D-Day operations on the Normandy beaches and the cliffs of nearby Pointe du Hoc. The spirit of those battles, the presidents and prime ministers said, hold lessons for confronting new challenges in the world.

The afternoon ceremony came on the fourth day of Mr. Obama’s trip through the Middle East and Europe, where the diplomatic goals of his administration came into sharper focus. As he made his way here, he signaled his intention to take a stronger tack toward North Korea, whose behavior he called “extraordinarily provocative.”

“We live in a world of competing beliefs and claims about what is true. It is a world of varied religions and cultures and forms of government,” he said. “In such a world, it is rare for a struggle to emerge that speaks to something universal about humanity. The Second World War did that.”

Mr. Obama delivered a 16-minute address steeped in history, following President Nicholas Sarkozy of France, Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada and Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Great Britain. The four men, along with Prince Charles of Great Britain, faced a crowd that stretched the length of the cemetery.

Without war stories of his own to offer, Mr. Obama, who was born 17 years after D-Day, introduced his great uncle, Charles Payne, a World War II veteran who traveled from Chicago.

He then told the story of Zane Schlemmer of Kane’ohe, Hawaii, a member of the 82nd Airborne Division who parachuted into a dark marsh and was separated from his men, but helped liberate Carentan, the town in which he landed.

He told the story of Anthony Ruggiero of Plymouth, Mass., who fought in the Army’s Second Ranger Battalion and spent three hours in chilling water before scaling the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc to destroy German guns.

And he told the story of Jim Norene, a member of the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, who traveled here from Heppner, Ore., for the 65th anniversary. He was ill but came anyway, Mr. Obama said, and Mr. Norene died in his sleep on Friday evening after visiting Omaha Beach one last time.

“That is the story of Normandy, but also the story of America,” said Mr. Obama, who was making his first visit to Normandy on Saturday.

In brilliant sunshine that gave way to imposing clouds and a cool breeze, waves crashed against the landing beaches where 156,000 Allied troops, almost half of them American, came ashore beginning June 6, 1944. Above the beaches, now best known by their D-Day code names — Utah, Omaha, Juno, Gold and Sword — thousands of people made a pilgrimage to Colleville-sur-Mer.

The age distribution of the crowd was striking, with far fewer World War II veterans on hand than children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the men who fought here.

“There are a lot fewer of us — our generation is sort of slipping away,” former Senator Bob Dole said in an interview as he was surrounded by autograph seekers and well-wishers. “But it’s great to see people waving at you as you’re driving down the highway and roads. It shows that the French understand what America did for them and a lot of other people.”

In this American military cemetery in a seaside village above the sands where the landing began, 9,387 headstones mark the resting places of American soldiers who died in the invasion and its aftermath. Most of the fallen are identified by name, rank and their home state. Others are left with this inscription: “Here rests in honored glory a comrade in arms, known but to God.”

Before arriving here to pay tribute to history, Mr. Obama met with Mr. Sarkozy in Caen, a city of churches nearly destroyed by Allied artillery and bombs. The two leaders said they found common ground on issues such as the Middle East, Iran’s nuclear ambitions and threats from North Korea, with Mr. Obama signaling a stronger approach toward the nation.

“We are not intending to continue a policy of rewarding provocation,” Mr. Obama said, referring to the latest nuclear test and missile test-launches by the North.

But as Mr. Obama’s five-day tour through the Middle East and Europe drew to a close on Saturday, the attention was focused on honoring America’s role in yesterday’s wars. The 65th anniversary is expected to be one of the last gatherings where living veterans are present.

During a 21-gun salute, smoke rose from a section of Omaha beach once more on Saturday. The military men and women in the crowd, the young sailors in crisp black uniforms, and the aging veterans with their war medals, brought their hands to salute for the playing of “Taps” and a flyover of British, French and American fighter jets.

Hyrum Smith Shumway, an 87-year-old Army veteran from Eldersburg, Md., was making his fourth trip to Normandy. His son, grandson and great-grandson accompanied him and stood by as Mr. Shumway talked about the day of the invasion, when he was 22.

“We climbed up the hill. We crossed here, where the cemeteries are now,” said Mr. Shumway, who was a second lieutenant in the First Army Division, 18th Regiment, Company B. “We were the second ones to land.”

Six weeks after D-Day, a mine exploded and blinded him for life. Mr. Shumway said he loved combat, but now longs for peace. He is hopeful that Mr. Obama will help achieve that goal for the United States.

“I think it’s wonderful that he has come over here to try to make peace in Israel and with the Muslims,” said Mr. Shumway, whose jacket was adorned with a Bronze Star and a Legion of Honor medal. “He’s sure a good speaker. I hope he’s able to bring peace to the world, but I don’t know that he will.”

Steven Erlanger and Alan Cowell contributed reporting from Paris.