U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth joined French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu on Friday to mark the 81st anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy.
On June 6, 1944, more than 150,000 Allied troops stormed the beaches of France by air and sea, launching the campaign to liberate Europe from Nazi rule.
“To walk over, or run if you can, carrying equipment over that open beach as shells and bullets thunder around you again and again—I cannot imagine,” Hegseth said. “Could you do that? Could I? Could we?”
D-Day was the assault phase of the Allied invasion of continental Europe, or Operation Overlord, which marked a decisive step in the liberation of Europe from German forces during the Second World War.
Watch the clips below:
They were just boys who went to war in hopes that America would remain free.
We will never forget their sacrifice. pic.twitter.com/8kYqqRqNlK
— DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) June 6, 2025
🚨Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth honors the 81st D-Day anniversary with a message from Normandy:
“You look back toward the land from the beach and you realize there's nothing there but German guns. And these men were willing to charge toward the guns with almost no chance of… pic.twitter.com/NVzWtOFWrs
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) June 6, 2025
Wow. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth led a workout this morning on Omaha Beach in honor of the 81st anniversary of D-Day.
pic.twitter.com/8cxGY5gopg— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) June 6, 2025