My View by Silvio Canto, Jr.

California smells bad

2026-06-09T07:00:00.000-05:00

California smells bad:

What we are seeing in California is that winning is all that matters to the Democrats.

---------------------------

On Sunday, a friend from California texted me that the late ballot counting was “legal” and the results would accurately reflect the ballot count.

Nevertheless, he admitted that the whole thing looks awful, and that many will conclude that the fix was in.

My friend is right that the whole thing is awful, and it’s time to change it. It’s sad when Colombia can announce results by 8 p.m., but California is still counting. Who knew that we’d be saying that Colombia has a more efficient vote counting system than California? Well they do, and so does Chile, Paraguay, Bolivia, Argentina, and a few of those countries who we used to call “third world”!

Where do we go from here? Well, let’s hope that the Supreme Court can save California from itself. The Justices will probably issue another 6-3 opinion soon, and we can’t wait for it. Here is the story:

Imagine putting your taxes in the mail a full week before the April 15 deadline, only to be fined by the Internal Revenue Service for a late filing.
Never mind the April 8 postmark, the IRS explains. Federal tax codes require returns be ‘filed on or before the 15th day of April.’ If your returns were lost in handling or the U.S. Postal Service took too long to deliver them, that’s your problem, not theirs. Filing taxes is a two-step process, the IRS explains, that involves both submitting the returns and having a federal worker record their arrival.
It’s an absurd claim and not the way the IRS operates. But it is the very logic the Supreme Court is expected to use later this month in a decision that could doom California’s mail-in voting system.

California’s snail-paced tallying was back in the news last week as results of several races in the June 2 primary — including the high-profile race for governor and another for mayor of Los Angeles — remained unclear as mail-in ballots continue to arrive and be counted.

Hurry up justices. We really need you this time.

What we are seeing in California is that winning is all that matters to the Democrats. They want to preserve their power at any cost, even if it means counting until they get the desired result. It may be legal, under state rules, but it looks awful to the rest of us who vote in a more transparent way. It also makes you wonder how much longer we can preserve our union if voting rules are so different between states, and cities decide what federal laws they want to enforce. At some point, like a toxic marriage, the union will break and people will go their separate ways.

P.S. Check out my blog for posts, podcasts, and videos.

Click to read:

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/06/california_smells_bad.html

"Country lanes", one of the best ones from The Bee Gees

2026-06-09T00:05:00.000-05:00

"Country Lanes" was released June 1975 as one of a dozen new tunes from the Main Course album.

It was the B-side of "Fanny, be tender with my love", released as the 3rd top 10 single out of that great album. I recall playing it many times at the school cafeteria jukebox.

Unfortunately, it was buried along big hits like "Jive Talkin" and "Nights on Broadway".

There were so many great songs on Main Course, including "Come on Over" which was recorded by Olivia Newton-John, "Wind of Change", and "At the edge of the universe".

Years later, "Country Lanes" is still one of my favorite Bee Gees' songs.

P.S. Check out my blog for posts, podcasts, and videos.

June 1966 and 5 Twins go deep in the same inning

2026-06-09T00:04:00.000-05:00

We remember Tony Oliva for winning 3 AL batting titles.

We remember Zoilo Versalles for the 1965 AL MVP.

They were 2 of the 4 cubanos who played for the 1965 AL champion Twins. The other two were Camilo Pascual and Sandy Valdespino.

Back in June 1966, Tony and Zoilo were a part of very unique baseball history. They both hit home runs along with teammates Rich Rollins, future Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew and Don Mincher.

Yes, 5 homeruns against the then Kansas City A’s in the same inning!

I should add that Camilo Pascual and Sandy Valdespino were also involved in that historic game. Pascual started the game but left early. Valdespino grounded out between Versalles and Oliva’s home runs.

P.S. Check out my blog for posts, podcasts, and videos.

The week in review with Bill Katz, the editor of Urgent Agenda

2026-06-08T16:00:00.000-05:00

Guest: Bill Katz, the editor of Urgent Agenda. Iran vs Israel. California vote counting. Trump vs Meet the Press.

The week in review with Bill Katz, the editor of Urgent Agenda

2026-06-08T15:00:00.000-05:00

Guest: Bill Katz, the editor of Urgent Agenda. Iran vs Israel. California vote counting. Trump vs Meet the Press. Click to listen:

Listen to "The week in review with Bill Katz, the editor of Urgent Agenda" on Spreaker.

Sheinbaum warns of foreign intervention in elections

2026-06-08T07:00:00.000-05:00

Sheinbaum warns of foreign intervention in elections:

The Mexican Government is playing the sovereignty card to distract the locals.

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few days ago, former Mexican President Lopez-Obrador wrote a letter in total support of incumbent President Sheinbaum. I asked a few Mexican friends if they had ever seen anything like that before, and they said no. I'm not saying that I conducted a scientific poll, but they all said no. One of them even said something like, former Mexican presidents usually disappear, and you don't hear a word from them again.

The letter came the same week that President Sheinbaum warned of foreign interference in their elections. This is what she said:

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum warned that Mexico faces a "real risk" of foreign intervention in its elections, escalating a political fight over a newly approved constitutional reform that would allow authorities to annul an election if outside interference is proven.
The warning came as Mexico's Congress advanced one of the most consequential changes to the country's electoral rules in years. The reform adds foreign intervention or interference as grounds for nullifying an election, a measure backed by Sheinbaum and Morena as a shield for national sovereignty, but criticized by opponents who say it could open the door to politically motivated challenges to valid results.
"Yes, there can be a risk of foreign intervention in Mexico's elections, yes," Sheinbaum said during her morning press conference from the National Palace.
The president linked the measure to what she described as past examples of foreign money reaching Mexican organizations involved, directly or indirectly, in the country's political arena. Without naming USAID explicitly, Sheinbaum referred to Mexicanos Contra la Corrupción y la Impunidad, known as MCCI, and said the organization had received money from U.S. institutions through the American embassy.
"It was demonstrated in the case of Mexicanos Contra la Corrupción, or for corruption, that they were financed by institutions of the United States through the embassy, and that in one way or another they supported a candidate," Sheinbaum said.

Through the US Embassy? That's a new one for me. The article does say that the anti-corruption group did receive money from the U.S. Agency for International Development between 2018 and early 2024. They deny partisanship and insist that it's all about promoting democracy, whatever that means.

The driving force here is not foreign interference. The real factor is that the Trump administration is putting a lot of pressure on the majority party to turn over politicians connected to the narcos.

Of course, the Mexican Government is playing the sovereignty card to distract the locals.

P.S. You can listen to my show. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

Click to read:

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/06/sheinbaum_warns_of_foreign_intervention_in_elections.html

We remember Greta Friedman (1924-2016)

2026-06-08T00:09:00.000-05:00

Greta Friedman was born in Austria in 1924 and died in Virginia at age 92.

Greta was working as a nurse and went out to join the V-J celebrations in 1945 in Times Square. Then a young navy man out celebrating the news gave her the famous kiss. It became one of the most important photos of the 20th century.

P.S. You can listen to my show. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

We remember Barbara Bush (1925-2018)

2026-06-08T00:09:00.000-05:00

We remember Barbara Bush, one of our favorite First Ladies. She was born on this day in 1925 and died in 2018.

She was married to Bush-41 and mother of Bush-43. Her son Jeb was governor of Florida and a candidate for president in 2016.

What a neat lady! We miss her sense of humor.

P.S. You can listen to my show. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

We remember Mark Belanger 1944-1998

2026-06-08T00:07:00.000-05:00

Mark Belanger was born on this day in 1944 in Pittsfield in, Massachusetts. He became one of the best defensive shortstops in major league history winning 8 Gold Gloves.

This is from SABR:

The most electrifying defensive shortstop of his generation, Mark Belanger set the standard by anchoring a great Baltimore Orioles infield for most of 14 seasons.
During this stretch, Baltimore won 90 or more games 11 times with six postseason appearances capped by the 1970 world championship.
Belanger and Ozzie Smith are the only shortstops to retire with fielding averages over .975 while averaging more than five fielding chances per game.

As I recall, Belanger played with Brooks Robinson on one side and Davey Johnson & later Bobby Grich on the other. They were all Gold Glove winners or the best defensive infield in baseball.

He died in 1998. He left me with a lot of memories of watching baseball at the old Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

P.S. You can listen to my show. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

We remember Alvarez-Guedes (1927-2013)

2026-06-08T00:06:00.000-05:00

We remember Guillermo Álvarez Guedes who was born in Cuba on this day in 1927. He died in 2013.

How do you measure Alvarez-Guedes’s impact?

He made us laugh, as I remember my parents every time that one of his LP’s was on the turntable.

He entertained us with a very unique sense of humor that only a Cuban could understand.

Alvarez-Guedes made Cubans laugh about Cubans. Frankly, didn’t a lot of Cubans need to laugh in those early days in the US?

Alvarez-Guedes knew how to use “expletives”. It just did not sound like “una mala palabra” when it came out of his mouth.

Back in 2013, we recorded this show about Alvarez-Guedes.

P.S. You can listen to my show. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

Listen to "We remember Alvarez-Guedes" on Spreaker.

Happy # 86 Nancy Sinatra

2026-06-08T00:03:00.000-05:00

We wish a very happy birthday to Nancy Sinatra. She was born in Jersey City on this day in 1940. Her parents were Frank Sinatra and Nancy Barbato.

1966 was a good year for the Sinatra family. Frank had a huge hit with "Strangers in the night" and Nancy earned a gold record with "These boots were made for walking".

P.S. You can listen to my show. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

Sunday night with George Rodriguez and Allan Wall

2026-06-07T21:00:00.000-05:00

Guests: George Rodriguez, South Texas conservative and Allan Wall, blogger......We will look at the stories of the moment, from Iran, to immigration enforcement to politics in Mexico.

CANTO TALK podcasts from last week

2026-06-07T09:00:00.000-05:00

Check our podcasts from last week...

P.S. You can listen to my show. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

The D-Day speech that every kid should read

2026-06-07T07:00:00.000-05:00

The D-Day speech that every kid should read:

President Reagan's 1984 D-Day speech delivered from the cliffs of Normandy was one for the ages.

Some of us are old enough to remember this President Reagan speech from June 1984, delivered from the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc in Normandy, France.

-----------------------

We recall D-Day 1944, or the invasion of Europe that put thousands of US and allied young men on the beaches of Normandy.

They liberated Paris a few months later and Hitler was eventually defeated the next spring.

D-Day was one complex operation.

You can watch "Saving Private Ryan" for an all "too real" memory of that day. It is not really suitable for young ones because the violence is very real.

My late friend Bob Jagers, who participated in the event, told me that there was nothing pretty about that day. He just said, “Glad we won, but it was costly.”

Or you can try "The Longest Da," a PG version of the story. It seems like every Hollywood actor was on this movie, from John Wayne to Richard Burton to Paul Anka to Fabian.

Both movies are great and tell the story of one of the most significant days of the 20th century!

Some of us are old enough to remember this President Reagan speech from June 1984, delivered from the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc in Normandy, France.

Frankly, it gets better with age. It was President Reagan at his best:

"We're here to mark that day in history when the Allied armies joined in battle to reclaim this continent to liberty. For four long years, much of Europe had been under a terrible shadow. Free nations had fallen, Jews cried out in the camps, millions cried out for liberation. Europe was enslaved and the world prayed for its rescue. Here, in Normandy, the rescue began. Here, the Allies stood and fought against tyranny, in a giant undertaking unparalleled in human history.

We stand on a lonely, windswept point on the northern shore of France. The air is soft, but forty years ago at this moment, the air was dense with smoke and the cries of men, and the air was filled with the crack of rifle fire and the roar of cannon. At dawn, on the morning of the 6th of June, 1944, two hundred and twenty-five Rangers jumped off the British landing craft and ran to the bottom of these cliffs.

Their mission was one of the most difficult and daring of the invasion: to climb these sheer and desolate cliffs and take out the enemy guns. The Allies had been told that some of the mightiest of these guns were here, and they would be trained on the beaches to stop the Allied advance.

The Rangers looked up and saw the enemy soldiers at the edge of the cliffs, shooting down at them with machine guns and throwing grenades. And the American Rangers began to climb. They shot rope ladders over the face of these cliffs and began to pull themselves up. When one Ranger fell, another would take his place. When one rope was cut, a Ranger would grab another and begin his climb again. They climbed, shot back, and held their footing. Soon, one by one, the Rangers pulled themselves over the top, and in seizing the firm land at the top of these cliffs, they began to seize back the continent of Europe. Two hundred and twenty-five came here. After two days of fighting, only ninety could still bear arms.

And behind me is a memorial that symbolizes the Ranger daggers that were thrust into the top of these cliffs. And before me are the men who put them there. 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. And these are the heroes who helped end a war. Gentlemen, I look at you and I think of the words of Stephen Spender's poem. You are men who in your "lives fought for life and left the vivid air signed with your honor."

I think I know what you may be thinking right now -- thinking "we were just part of a bigger effort; everyone was brave that day." Well everyone was. Do you remember the story of Bill Millin of the 51st Highlanders? Forty years ago today, British troops were pinned down near a bridge, waiting desperately for help. Suddenly, they heard the sound of bagpipes, and some thought they were dreaming. Well, they weren't. They looked up and saw Bill Millin with his bagpipes, leading the reinforcements and ignoring the smack of the bullets into the ground around him.

Lord Lovat was with him -- Lord Lovat of Scotland, who calmly announced when he got to the bridge, "Sorry, I'm a few minutes late," as if he'd been delayed by a traffic jam, when in truth he'd just come from the bloody fighting on Sword Beach, which he and his men had just taken.

There was the impossible valor of the Poles, who threw themselves between the enemy and the rest of Europe as the invasion took hold; and the unsurpassed courage of the Canadians who had already seen the horrors of war on this coast. They knew what awaited them there, but they would not be deterred. And once they hit Juno Beach, they never looked back.

All of these men were part of a roll call of honor with names that spoke of a pride as bright as the colors they bore; The Royal Winnipeg Rifles, Poland's 24th Lancers, the Royal Scots' Fusiliers, the Screaming Eagles, the Yeomen of England's armored divisions, the forces of Free France, the Coast Guard's "Matchbox Fleet," and you, the American Rangers.

Forty summers have passed since the battle that you fought here. You were young the day you took these cliffs; some of you were hardly more than boys, with the deepest joys of life before you. Yet you risked everything here. Why? Why did you do it? What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these cliffs? What inspired all the men of the armies that met here? We look at you, and somehow we know the answer. It was faith and belief. It was loyalty and love.

The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead, or on the next. It was the deep knowledge -- and pray God we have not lost it -- that there is a profound moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt.

You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One's country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you.

The Americans who fought here that morning knew word of the invasion was spreading through the darkness back home. They fought -- or felt in their hearts, though they couldn't know in fact, that in Georgia they were filling the churches at 4:00 am. In Kansas they were kneeling on their porches and praying. And in Philadelphia they were ringing the Liberty Bell.

Something else helped the men of D-day; their rock-hard belief that Providence would have a great hand in the events that would unfold here; that God was an ally in this great cause. And so, the night before the invasion, when Colonel Wolverton asked his parachute troops to kneel with him in prayer, he told them: "Do not bow your heads, but look up so you can see God and ask His blessing in what we're about to do." Also, that night, General Matthew Ridgway on his cot, listening in the darkness for the promise God made to Joshua: "I will not fail thee nor forsake thee."

These are the things that impelled them; these are the things that shaped the unity of the Allies.

When the war was over, there were lives to be rebuilt and governments to be returned to the people. There were nations to be reborn. Above all, there was a new peace to be assured. These were huge and daunting tasks. But the Allies summoned strength from the faith, belief, loyalty, and love of those who fell here. They rebuilt a new Europe together. There was first a great reconciliation among those who had been enemies, all of whom had suffered so greatly. The United States did its part, creating the Marshall Plan to help rebuild our allies and our former enemies. The Marshall Plan led to the Atlantic alliance -- a great alliance that serves to this day as our shield for freedom, for prosperity, and for peace.

In spite of our great efforts and successes, not all that followed the end of the war was happy or planned. Some liberated countries were lost. The great sadness of this loss echoes down to our own time in the streets of Warsaw, Prague, and East Berlin. The Soviet troops that came to the center of this continent did not leave when peace came. They're still there, uninvited, unwanted, unyielding, almost forty years after the war. Because of this, allied forces still stand on this continent. Today, as forty years ago, our armies are here for only one purpose: to protect and defend democracy. The only territories we hold are memorials like this one and graveyards where our heroes rest.

We in America have learned bitter lessons from two world wars. It is better to be here ready to protect the peace, than to take blind shelter across the sea, rushing to respond only after freedom is lost. We've learned that isolationism never was and never will be an acceptable response to tyrannical governments with an expansionist intent. But we try always to be prepared for peace, prepared to deter aggression, prepared to negotiate the reduction of arms, and yes, prepared to reach out again in the spirit of reconciliation. In truth, there is no reconciliation we would welcome more than a reconciliation with the Soviet Union, so, together, we can lessen the risks of war, now and forever.

It's fitting to remember here the great losses also suffered by the Russian people during World War II. Twenty million perished, a terrible price that testifies to all the world the necessity of ending war. I tell you from my heart that we in the United States do not want war. We want to wipe from the face of the earth the terrible weapons that man now has in his hands. And I tell you, we are ready to seize that beachhead. We look for some sign from the Soviet Union that they are willing to move forward, that they share our desire and love for peace, and that they will give up the ways of conquest. There must be a changing there that will allow us to turn our hope into action.

We will pray forever that someday that changing will come. But for now, particularly today, it is good and fitting to renew our commitment to each other, to our freedom, and to the alliance that protects it.

We're bound today by what bound us 40 years ago, the same loyalties, traditions, and beliefs. We're bound by reality. The strength of America's allies is vital to the United States, and the American security guarantee is essential to the continued freedom of Europe's democracies. We were with you then; we're with you now. Your hopes are our hopes, and your destiny is our destiny.

Here, in this place where the West held together, let us make a vow to our dead. Let us show them by our actions that we understand what they died for. Let our actions say to them the words for which Matthew Ridgway listened: "I will not fail thee nor forsake thee."

Strengthened by their courage and heartened by their value [valor] and borne by their memory, let us continue to stand for the ideals for which they lived and died.
Thank you very much, and God bless you all."

It was one of the greatest presidential speeches ever. Have your kid read it first and turn on the video.

We salute the heroes of D-Day.

P.S. Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos.

Click to read:

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/06/the_d_day_speech_that_every_kid_should_read.html

Happy # 86 Tom Jones

2026-06-07T00:22:00.000-05:00

We remember Thomas John Woodward who was born in Wales on this day in 1940. We know him as Tom Jones, one of the most popular singers of the 1960's.

Jones sold over 100 million records with 36 Top 40 hits in the UK and 19 in the US, including "It's Not Unusual", "What's New Pussycat", "Delilah", "Green, Green Grass of Home", and "She's a Lady".

P.S. You can listen to my show. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

We remember Thurman Munson (1947-1979)

2026-06-07T00:10:00.000-05:00

We remember Thurman Lee Munson, who was born in Akron, Ohio, on this day in 1947. He died in a plane crash in 1979!

Munson had some great seasons with the Yankees. He was the 1976 AL MVP when New York returned to the World Series for the first time since 1964: .302 average, 17 HR & 105 RBI's. He drove 307 RBI's over a 3 year span, 1975-77.

Overall, Munson hit .292 with 113 HR & 701 RBI's over 1,423 games.

My memory of Munson is that he was a great competitor and extremely tough in the clutch. In other words, you didn't want to pitch to Munson with the winning run in second base.

P.S. You can listen to my show. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

June 7, 1941.......the streak reached 22 on the way to 56

2026-06-07T00:05:00.000-05:00

June 7, 1941.......

the streak reached 22 on the way to 56........

P.S. Check out my blog for posts, podcasts, and videos.

We remember Dean Martin (1917-1995)

2026-06-07T00:03:00.000-05:00

We remember Dino Crocetti who was born in Steubenville, Ohio, on this day in 1917.

We know him as Dean Martin, one of the biggest entertainers of the 20th century. He sold millions of records and movie tickets.

Martin died in 1995.

P.S. Check out my blog for posts, podcasts, and videos.

June 7, 1976: The article that inspired "Saturday Night Fever"

2026-06-07T00:02:00.000-05:00

“Saturday Night Fever” was one of the most popular movies ever. It started out as a holiday “low budget film” but the theaters were sold out quickly.

The soundtrack sold over 30 million copies and gave The Bee Gees total command of the pop charts. The LP was # 1 for months. 3 songs from the soundtrack were # 1, including “Night Fever” that sat at the top for 8 weeks.

What inspired the movie? It started on this day in 1976 with a magazine article.

My guess is that few music or disco fans know about Nik Cohn. Nevertheless, his article inspired the story that made Travolta and The Bee Gees into household names.

Here is a link to the article. Wonder if Mr. Cohn had any idea of what would happen next?

P.S. Check out my blog for posts, podcasts, and videos.

Fathers & mothers, Maine madness and a little history

2026-06-06T11:00:00.000-05:00

Fathers & mothers, Maine madness and a little history....

The New York Talaricans

2026-06-06T07:00:00.000-05:00

The New York Talaricans:

It’s one thing to be a liberal or progressive; it’s quite another to be insane and just outright insane.

Click to read:

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/06/the_new_york_talaricans.html

2014: D-DAY PLUS 70 WITH BOB JAGERS, VETERAN & BILL KATZ OF URGENT AGENDA

2026-06-06T00:10:00.000-05:00

Our friend Bob Jagers, World War II veteran, passed away the first week of
April 2021. He was born in Chicago in 1922 and was there on D-Day 1944.

We recorded this show in 2014.

D-DAY MEMORIES WITH BOB JAGERS PLUS BILL KATZ OF URGENT AGENDA........

P.S. Check out my blog for posts, podcasts, and videos.

Listen to "D-Day memories from Bob Jagers, US Navy veteran" on Spreaker.

1984: President Reagan and the D-Day speech that every kid should read

2026-06-06T00:09:00.000-05:00

We recall D-Day 1944, or the invasion of Europe that put thousands of US and allied young men on the beaches of Normandy. They liberated Paris a few months later and Hitler was eventually defeated the next spring.

It all started on D-Day. You can watch "Saving Private Ryan" for an all "too real" memory of that day. It is not really suitable for young ones because the violence is very real.

Or you can try "The Longest Day", a PG version of the story. It seems like every Hollywood actor was on this movie, from John Wayne to Richard Burton.

Both movies are great and tell the story of one of the most significant days of the 20th century!

Some of us are old enough to remember this Pres Reagan speech from June 1984. Frankly, it gets better with age. It was Pres Reagan at his best:

"We're here to mark that day in history when the Allied armies joined in battle to reclaim this continent to liberty. For four long years, much of Europe had been under a terrible shadow. Free nations had fallen, Jews cried out in the camps, millions cried out for liberation. Europe was enslaved and the world prayed for its rescue. Here, in Normandy, the rescue began. Here, the Allies stood and fought against tyranny, in a giant undertaking unparalleled in human history.

We stand on a lonely, windswept point on the northern shore of France. The air is soft, but forty years ago at this moment, the air was dense with smoke and the cries of men, and the air was filled with the crack of rifle fire and the roar of cannon. At dawn, on the morning of the 6th of June, 1944, two hundred and twenty-five Rangers jumped off the British landing craft and ran to the bottom of these cliffs.

Their mission was one of the most difficult and daring of the invasion: to climb these sheer and desolate cliffs and take out the enemy guns. The Allies had been told that some of the mightiest of these guns were here, and they would be trained on the beaches to stop the Allied advance.

The Rangers looked up and saw the enemy soldiers at the edge of the cliffs, shooting down at them with machine guns and throwing grenades. And the American Rangers began to climb. They shot rope ladders over the face of these cliffs and began to pull themselves up. When one Ranger fell, another would take his place. When one rope was cut, a Ranger would grab another and begin his climb again. They climbed, shot back, and held their footing. Soon, one by one, the Rangers pulled themselves over the top, and in seizing the firm land at the top of these cliffs, they began to seize back the continent of Europe. Two hundred and twenty-five came here. After two days of fighting, only ninety could still bear arms.

And behind me is a memorial that symbolizes the Ranger daggers that were thrust into the top of these cliffs. And before me are the men who put them there. 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. And these are the heroes who helped end a war. Gentlemen, I look at you and I think of the words of Stephen Spender's poem. You are men who in your "lives fought for life and left the vivid air signed with your honor."

I think I know what you may be thinking right now -- thinking "we were just part of a bigger effort; everyone was brave that day." Well everyone was. Do you remember the story of Bill Millin of the 51st Highlanders? Forty years ago today, British troops were pinned down near a bridge, waiting desperately for help. Suddenly, they heard the sound of bagpipes, and some thought they were dreaming. Well, they weren't. They looked up and saw Bill Millin with his bagpipes, leading the reinforcements and ignoring the smack of the bullets into the ground around him.

Lord Lovat was with him -- Lord Lovat of Scotland, who calmly announced when he got to the bridge, "Sorry, I'm a few minutes late," as if he'd been delayed by a traffic jam, when in truth he'd just come from the bloody fighting on Sword Beach, which he and his men had just taken.

There was the impossible valor of the Poles, who threw themselves between the enemy and the rest of Europe as the invasion took hold; and the unsurpassed courage of the Canadians who had already seen the horrors of war on this coast. They knew what awaited them there, but they would not be deterred. And once they hit Juno Beach, they never looked back.

All of these men were part of a roll call of honor with names that spoke of a pride as bright as the colors they bore; The Royal Winnipeg Rifles, Poland's 24th Lancers, the Royal Scots' Fusiliers, the Screaming Eagles, the Yeomen of England's armored divisions, the forces of Free France, the Coast Guard's "Matchbox Fleet," and you, the American Rangers.

Forty summers have passed since the battle that you fought here. You were young the day you took these cliffs; some of you were hardly more than boys, with the deepest joys of life before you. Yet you risked everything here. Why? Why did you do it? What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these cliffs? What inspired all the men of the armies that met here? We look at you, and somehow we know the answer. It was faith and belief. It was loyalty and love.

The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead, or on the next. It was the deep knowledge -- and pray God we have not lost it -- that there is a profound moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt.

You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One's country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you.

The Americans who fought here that morning knew word of the invasion was spreading through the darkness back home. They fought -- or felt in their hearts, though they couldn't know in fact, that in Georgia they were filling the churches at 4:00 am. In Kansas they were kneeling on their porches and praying. And in Philadelphia they were ringing the Liberty Bell.

Something else helped the men of D-day; their rock-hard belief that Providence would have a great hand in the events that would unfold here; that God was an ally in this great cause. And so, the night before the invasion, when Colonel Wolverton asked his parachute troops to kneel with him in prayer, he told them: "Do not bow your heads, but look up so you can see God and ask His blessing in what we're about to do." Also, that night, General Matthew Ridgway on his cot, listening in the darkness for the promise God made to Joshua: "I will not fail thee nor forsake thee."

These are the things that impelled them; these are the things that shaped the unity of the Allies.

When the war was over, there were lives to be rebuilt and governments to be returned to the people. There were nations to be reborn. Above all, there was a new peace to be assured. These were huge and daunting tasks. But the Allies summoned strength from the faith, belief, loyalty, and love of those who fell here. They rebuilt a new Europe together. There was first a great reconciliation among those who had been enemies, all of whom had suffered so greatly. The United States did its part, creating the Marshall Plan to help rebuild our allies and our former enemies. The Marshall Plan led to the Atlantic alliance -- a great alliance that serves to this day as our shield for freedom, for prosperity, and for peace.

In spite of our great efforts and successes, not all that followed the end of the war was happy or planned. Some liberated countries were lost. The great sadness of this loss echoes down to our own time in the streets of Warsaw, Prague, and East Berlin. The Soviet troops that came to the center of this continent did not leave when peace came. They're still there, uninvited, unwanted, unyielding, almost forty years after the war. Because of this, allied forces still stand on this continent. Today, as forty years ago, our armies are here for only one purpose: to protect and defend democracy. The only territories we hold are memorials like this one and graveyards where our heroes rest.

We in America have learned bitter lessons from two world wars. It is better to be here ready to protect the peace, than to take blind shelter across the sea, rushing to respond only after freedom is lost. We've learned that isolationism never was and never will be an acceptable response to tyrannical governments with an expansionist intent. But we try always to be prepared for peace, prepared to deter aggression, prepared to negotiate the reduction of arms, and yes, prepared to reach out again in the spirit of reconciliation. In truth, there is no reconciliation we would welcome more than a reconciliation with the Soviet Union, so, together, we can lessen the risks of war, now and forever.

It's fitting to remember here the great losses also suffered by the Russian people during World War II. Twenty million perished, a terrible price that testifies to all the world the necessity of ending war. I tell you from my heart that we in the United States do not want war. We want to wipe from the face of the earth the terrible weapons that man now has in his hands. And I tell you, we are ready to seize that beachhead. We look for some sign from the Soviet Union that they are willing to move forward, that they share our desire and love for peace, and that they will give up the ways of conquest. There must be a changing there that will allow us to turn our hope into action.

We will pray forever that someday that changing will come. But for now, particularly today, it is good and fitting to renew our commitment to each other, to our freedom, and to the alliance that protects it.

We're bound today by what bound us 40 years ago, the same loyalties, traditions, and beliefs. We're bound by reality. The strength of America's allies is vital to the United States, and the American security guarantee is essential to the continued freedom of Europe's democracies. We were with you then; we're with you now. Your hopes are our hopes, and your destiny is our destiny.

Here, in this place where the West held together, let us make a vow to our dead. Let us show them by our actions that we understand what they died for. Let our actions say to them the words for which Matthew Ridgway listened: "I will not fail thee nor forsake thee."

Strengthened by their courage and heartened by their value [valor] and borne by their memory, let us continue to stand for the ideals for which they lived and died.

Thank you very much, and God bless you all."

It was one of the greatest presidential speeches ever.

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D-Day and a chance to salute heroes like Robert Jagers!

2026-06-06T00:08:00.000-05:00

Whales of World War II: Military Life of Robert Jagers.........

https://a.co/d/04RhFEko

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D-Day 1944: Another day to remember my late great uncle’s history lessons

2026-06-06T00:07:00.000-05:00

Over the last couple of years, I’ve told you about my great Uncle Joaquin. He would always turn our visits to his home outside of Havana into history lessons, from President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address to war stories. “Tio Joaquin”, as we called him, was a judge, a teacher, an attorney and someone who was determined to pass on the great lessons of history.

D-Day and war stories were among his favorites.

As my Tio Joaquin would say, the World War II generation earned place in our hearts. They were the young men who went to war against Hitler and liberated Europe. Over 400,000 died.

On D-Day 1944, thousands of US soldiers were killed landing at Normandy.

On that day, Pres. Roosevelt went on radio and spoke these words to the world:

“Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom. And for us at home — fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters and brothers of brave men overseas — whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them — help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice. Many people have urged that I call the Nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a countenance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.” (FDR’s D-Day Prayer)

Sadly, we are losing World War II veterans daily. 16 million served. Most are in their 90’s today and at a rate of 372 a day.

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