Sixty-five years ago on this date

Today is D-Day. Sixty-five years ago, thousands of Allied troops gave their lives for the liberation of Europe from the Third Reich. The few remaining survivors will remember the sacrifices made on this date. They are, in Shakespeare's immortal words, a "band of brothers ... for he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother." The playwright put the words into the mouth of King Henry V before the battle of Agincourt and promised that the date, St. Crispian's day, would live forever. June 6, 1944, will live forever.

Each passing year, I am struck by how recent D-Day was, World War II was, when I was growing up. When I was a child, just discovering what D-Day meant, that battle was as recent as the Clinton administration or the first Gulf War is today. On the 20th anniversary of D-Day, I watched Walter Cronkite tour the Normandy battlefield with Dwight D. Eisenhower, remembering the sacrifices of that day.

President Reagan gave one of his greatest speeches on the 40th anniversary of D-Day. It's a speech worth remembering 25 years later.