...they stormed the beaches at Normandy.

THE LONGEST DAY

So many were so young. And there were so many.

The story of D-Day can be partly told in the numbers. Nearly 160,000 allied troops landed. Almost 7,000 allied ships and over 11,000 allied aircraft supporting operations. 4,400 allied dead. 2,400 American casualties at Omaha Beach. 9,387 American graves at the Normandy American… pic.twitter.com/gM3A37gvvY

— Dr. Buzz Aldrin (@TheRealBuzz) June 6, 2024

They've come back to remember. We are blessed to have some of those giants still with us.

Leaders, veterans and visitors from around the world paid tribute Thursday to the D-Day generation in moving ceremonies on and around the Normandy beaches where the Allies landed exactly 80 years ago, with the war in Ukraine on the minds of many and a common message that tyranny cannot be permitted to prevail.

Ever-dwindling numbers of World War II veterans who have pilgrimaged back to France, and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine that has dashed hopes that lives and cities wouldn’t again be laid to waste in Europe, are making the poignant anniversary of the June 6, 1944, Allied landings even more so.

God Bless, them all..❤️🪖🙏
Our Greatest Generation...🇺🇸❤️🇬🇧

— Gerseygal (@MandyGerseygal) June 5, 2024

THERE'S NO BLOOD IN THAT THE WAY IT WAS WHEN I GOT HERE

American WWII D-Day veteran Reid Clanton returns to Omaha Beach.

Tomorrow, June 6, marks the 80th anniversary of the Normandy D-Day landings. pic.twitter.com/eJoD39JsgQ

— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) June 5, 2024

So many stories on those storied beaches.

THESE ARE THE BOYS OF POINTE du HOC

"These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war. These are the heroes who helped end a war."

- Pres. Reagan 40th D-Day anniv. speech June 6, 1984, Normandy pic.twitter.com/Qn2ciDivZ3

— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) June 5, 2024

The only general on the beach during the first wave had to beg three times to be allowed to be there at all, and then his landing wound up being off by several kilometers thanks to the unrelenting tides.

No worries, said Brig Gen Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.

 "We'll start the war from right here!"

And so he and his men did.

Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr. requested three times to lead the first wave of the assault on Utah Beach before permission was granted. Under a barrage of artillery fire, he proceeded to lead the men across the beach, returning for the ensuing units. He greeted each newly arriving regiment, pointing them towards their changed objective. His humor and confidence encouraged and inspired all, calming the nerves of the young troops.

...His persistence led to his leading the assault on Utah Beach, the most southern of the landing sites at Normandy. These landings were far from perfect. At Utah Beach the tidal currents were so strong that the first twenty landing craft strayed two kilometers to the south of the expected objective. Roosevelt, as one of the first men off the boat, immediately assessed the revised situation and is said to have declared, “We’ll start the war from right here!” When General Barton, the commanding general of the 4th Division, came ashore, Roosevelt was there to greet him with reports of the situation. Barton later wrote,

while I was mentally framing [orders], Ted Roosevelt came up. He had landed with the first wave, had put my troops across the beach, and had a perfect picture (just as Roosevelt had earlier promised if allowed to go ashore with the first wave) of the entire situation. I loved Ted. When I finally agreed to his landing with the first wave, I felt sure he would be killed. When I had bade him goodbye, I never expected to see him alive. You can imagine then the emotion with which I greeted him when he came out to meet me [near La Grande Dune]. He was bursting with information. (Mil. Hall of Honor)

Gen. Roosevelt would die in his sleep of a heart attack thirty-six days later. He is buried in the American Cemetary at Normandy, alongside the remains of his little brother. Quentin had been a WWI pilot who died after being shot down in a dogfight outside of Chamery, France. The Germans buried him there with full military honors. After Teddy Jr.'s death, the family requested that their youngest brother be moved from there to alongside their oldest in Normandy.

There are 45 sets of brothers in that sacred place.

So many brothers, husbands, sons.

101st Airborne Division Veteran Ralph Maley faces the grave of this twin brother Rolan Maley, killed in combat at the age of 19 on D-Day in Normandy. pic.twitter.com/u9vsL5ZZsT

— Military Support (@MilitaryCooI) June 6, 2024

We will remember them all.

We will remember them.

Silence falls at the British Normandy Memorial in remembrance of all those who served and sacrificed on D-Day.#DDay80 pic.twitter.com/SileFUbD4Z

— Royal British Legion (@PoppyLegion) June 6, 2024

Ever grateful the French remember...

Every year on the anniversary of D-Day, French citizens take sand from Omaha Beach and rub it onto the gravestones of fallen soldiers to create a golden shine. They do this for all 9,386 American soldiers buried there. pic.twitter.com/m3b6MebCqW

— Sam SEER (@sam_seeer) June 5, 2024

...and are still throwing a hero's welcome for their American, British, and Canadian liberators...and it makes me cry.

Was at the huge party on the square yesterday. While D-Day on Twitter is always a serious, somber event, real life celebrations in Normandy this week have been of grateful, joyous liberation and beaming America love. Refreshing! https://t.co/pxY5g3HqEc pic.twitter.com/xqaD9K2qid

— NeverTweet (@LOLNeverTweet) June 6, 2024

The daring nighttime 82d Airborne parachute leap into France that preceded the beach landings was one of a number of preemptive American and British drops.

pic.twitter.com/CfHMDrycRw

— Lafayette Lee (@Partisan_O) June 6, 2024

For this 80th celebration, an amazing group of hundreds of U.S. veterans recreated it and CBS's Charlie D'Agata was lucky enough to go along.

It was the jump of a lifetime for these guys as it was for the soldiers who came out of those Goonies 80 years ago and then helped save the world.

The stalwart heroes who charged out of Higgins boats - out of all manner of landing craft - into the mouth of Hell itself, and somehow, some way, they kept going.

And they helped save the world.

Oh, yes.

God bless them, every one.

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

--FDR pic.twitter.com/9f5h67x1iI

— ₩₳Ɽ ₱₳₮Ⱨ (@WarPath2pt0) June 6, 2024

We will remember them.