On the 70th anniversary of the Normandy landings during World War II, U.S. Congressman Rick Crawford (AR-1) issued the following statement regarding the June 6, 1944 Allied invasion of Western Europe:

“Prior to D-Day, General Eisenhower sent a message to the Allied Forces saying, ‘We will accept nothing less than full victory!’ Shortly afterwards, about 160,000 Allied troops invaded a 50-mile stretch of German-occupied beaches along the French Coast. More than 4,400 of them died on those shores and another 7,000-plus faced injury. The others pressed on.

“Through movies, photographs, and raw footage, we try to understand what may have poured through an Allied soldier’s mind storming the Normandy beaches in the name of freedom. However, those glimpses will never relay the courage needed to push forward despite the fear of death and the horrors of war. I’m grateful for that bravery, endurance, and sacrifice.

“Tom Brokaw once called their generation, ‘The Greatest Generation,’ a statement with which I cannot disagree. We owe these soldiers a great debt; one that demands honor and respect, certainly. More importantly, it demands we uphold and extol the freedoms purchased with a high cost on June 6, 1944. May we never forget that they fought so we may have peace.”