American heroes end wars

Attila the Hun, the Islamic Berbers, Xerxes, the Ottoman Empire, and the Mongols all invaded Europe throughout the centuries. Their aim was conquest.

When the United States of America did it, the aim was to end a war.

June 6, 1944, deserves to be commemorated for all time as an amazing moment of military might, strategy, bravery, and heroism. But D-Day was also monumental as the greatest invasion ever launched for liberation rather than conquest. In that regard, D-Day is a commemoration of America’s unique and virtuous role in world history.

President Ronald Reagan delivered the best ode D-Day has ever received. Everyone remembers the lines he uttered from atop the cliffs in June 1984. “These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc,” he began. “These are the men who took the cliffs,” Reagan said next, escalating the praise for the old soldiers who sat before him. “These are the champions who helped free a continent,” he said, before reaching his climax: “These are the heroes who helped end a war.”

D-Day was the world’s greatest invasion, and its objective was to end a war. It was America at its best. The greatest military in the world’s history took action not to start a war, but to end it.