55 Inspiring Quotes To Remember the Battle of Normandy on the 80th Anniversary of D-Day

A D-Day photo

June 6 marks the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Normandy—the day in 1944 when allied forces from 13 countries stormed five beaches in Normandy, France, marking the beginning of the end of World War II. Planned under the codename Operation Overlord, the attack by sea and air included almost 156,000 allied troops from the United States, Canada, England, and several other countries and is considered the largest military invasion ever assembled.

The term “D-Day” actually refers to the specific day any military operation is set to launch, but the nickname has colloquially become synonymous with the Normandy landings, which were commanded by General Dwight Eisenhower of the United States Army. The Battle of Normandy began that day on June 6 and lasted until August 1944, when the city of Paris and all of northern France were liberated from the control of Nazi Germany.

By May 1945, World War II in Europe came to an end when Germany’s Third Reich surrendered days after Nazi leader Adolf Hitler died by suicide; the war officially ended that August when Japan surrendered to the Western Allies.

Although D-Day was a successful mission, it is believed that a staggering 10,500 Allied forces were killed, missing or wounded after the Normandy landings (which inspired the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and countless war movies). In honor of those who made the ultimate sacrifice that June day in France nearly 80 years ago, we have put together an inspiring list of quotes about D-Day.

The commentaries include excerpts from speeches made by politicians and high-ranking military personnel, recollections from soldiers and seamen on the beaches that day, journalists who reported on the day's events, and other world leaders and historians. Read on and soak in these 55 D-Day quotes celebrating and honoring one of the most important dates in world history.

55 D-Day Quotes

1. “We’ll start the war from right here!” — Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., assistant commander of the 4th Infantry Division, upon finding that his troops had been landed in the wrong place on Utah Beach

2. “If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone.” — General Dwight Eisenhower, in a draft of notes he’d made in case the invasion was a failure

3. “I am prepared to lose the whole group.” — Colonel Donald Blakeslee, commanding the 4th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force, briefing his P-51 Mustang pilots

4. “'Hitler made only one big mistake when he built his Atlantic Wall,’ the paratroopers liked to say. ‘He forgot to put a roof on it.’” — Stephen E. Ambrose, Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest 

5. “They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate.” — President Franklin D. Roosevelt's official address announcing the invasion

6. “Everyone was violently busy on that crowded, dangerous shore. The pebbles were the size of apples and feet deep, and we stumbled up a road that a huge road shovel was scooping out. We walked with the utmost care between the narrowly placed white tape lines that marked the mine-cleared path, and headed for a tent marked with a red cross … Everyone agreed that the beach was a stinker, and that it would be a great pleasure to get the hell out of here sometime.” — Martha Gellhorn, Collier’s war correspondent

7. "So much of the progress that would define the 20th century, on both sides of the Atlantic, came down to the battle for a slice of beach only six miles long and two miles wide.” — President Barack Obama on the 65th anniversary of D-Day

8. “Two kinds of people are staying on this beach—the dead and those who are going to die.” — Colonel George A. Taylor, commanding the Sixteenth Infantry Regiment, First Infantry Division, on Omaha Beach.

9. “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.” — President Ronald Reagan, on the 40th Anniversary of D-Day

10. “The waiting for history to be made was the most difficult. I spent much time in prayer. Being cooped up made it worse. Like everyone else, I was seasick, and the stench of vomit permeated our craft.” — Private Clair Galdonik, 359th Infantry Regiment, US 90th Division

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11. “Lieutenant Welsh remembered walking around among the sleeping men and thinking to himself that ‘they had looked at and smelled death all around them all day but never even dreamed of applying the term to themselves. They hadn’t come here to fear. They hadn’t come to die. They had come to win.’” — Stephen Ambrose, Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest

12. “They’re murdering us here. Let’s move inland and get murdered.” — Colonel Charles D. Canham, 116th Infantry Regiment commander

13. “That road to V-E Day was hard and long and traveled by weary and valiant men. And history will always record where that road began. It began here, with the first footprints on the beaches of Normandy.” — President George Bush, on the 60th Anniversary of D-Day

14. “This is a very serious business.” — Photographer Robert Capa on Omaha Beach

15. “I don't feel that I’m any kind of hero. To me, the work had to be done. I was asked to do it. So, I did. When I lecture kids, I tell them the same thing.” — Private First Class Joseph Lesniewski?, Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division

16, “You get your ass on the beach. I’ll be there waiting for you and I’ll tell you what to do. There ain’t anything in this plan that is going to go right.” — Colonel Paul R. Goode, in a pre-attack briefing to the 175th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division

17. “Four years ago, our nation and empire stood alone against an overwhelming enemy, with our backs to the wall. Now once more a supreme test has to be faced. This time the challenge is not to fight to survive but to fight to win the final victory for the good cause. At this historic moment, surely not one of us is too busy, too young, or too old to play a part in a nation-wide, perchance a worldwide vigil of prayer as the great Crusade sets forth.” — King George VI in a radio address on June 6, 1944

18. “At the core, the American citizen soldiers knew the difference between right and wrong, and they didn't want to live in a world in which wrong prevailed. So, they fought and won, and we, all of us, living and yet to be born, must be forever profoundly grateful.” — Stephen Ambrose, Citizen Soldiers

19. “I took chances on D-Day that I never would have taken later in the war.” — First Sergeant C. Carwood Lipton, 506th Parachute Regiment, 101st Airborne Division

20. “God almighty, in a few short hours, we will be in battle with the enemy. We do not join battle afraid. We do not ask favors or indulgence but ask that, if you will, use us as your instrument for the right and an aid in returning peace to the world.” — Lieutenant Colonel Robert L. Wolverton, commanding officer of 3rd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment

21. “Today, when people thank me for my service, I figure three years of my time is a cheap price to pay for this country. Nobody owes me a thing.” — First Lieutenant Lynn “Buck” Compton, Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division

22. “This is the end for Germany.” — Major Werner Pluskat, 1st Battalion of the 352nd Artillery Regiment of the German 352nd Infantry Division, at dawn on June 6, 1944

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23. “There is one great thing that you men will all be able to say after this war is over and you are home once again. When you are sitting by the fireplace with your grandson on your knee and he asks you what you did in the great World War II, you can look him straight in the eye and say, ‘Son, your granddaddy rode with the Great Third Army and a son-of-a-goddamned-bitch named Georgie Patton!’” — General George S. Patton

24. “And what a plan! This vast operation is undoubtedly the most complicated and difficult that has ever occurred.” — British Prime Minister Winston Churchill

25. “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.” — President Franklin D. Roosevelt

26. “Nobody dashed ashore. We staggered. With one hand I carried my gun, finger on the trigger; with the other, I held onto the rope-rail down the ramp, and with the third hand I carried my bicycle.” — Corporal Peter Masters, Troop 3, No. 10 Commando, British Army “Jewish” Troop

27. “After nearly five years of toil and suffering, we must renew that crusading impulse on which we entered the war and met its darkest hour.” — King George VI

28. “Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well-trained, well-equipped, and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely. I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory!” — General Dwight D. Eisenhower

29. “Thank you to those men and women who put self aside because they held the thought of us on the inside. So, whether that be the bloodied beaches on D-Day or any number of other battles remembered or forgotten, we now hold you on the inside and we say, ‘Thank you.’” — Craig D. Lounsbrough

30. “It was a different world then. It was a world that required young men like myself to be prepared to die for a civilization that was worth living in.” — Harry Read, 6th Airborne Division, Britain’s Parachute Regiment

31. “There’s a graveyard in northern France where all the dead boys from D-Day are buried. The white crosses reach from one horizon to the other. I remember looking it over and thinking it was a forest of graves. But the rows were like this, dizzying, diagonal, perfectly straight, so after all it wasn’t a forest but an orchard of graves. Nothing to do with nature, unless you count human nature.” — Barbara Kingsolver

32. “I cherish the memories of a question my grandson asked me the other day when he said, ‘Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?’ Grandpa said, ‘No, but I served in a company of heroes.’” — Major Richard Winters, Commander, Easy Company of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division

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33. “All I could see was water, miles and miles of water. But this was D-Day and nobody went back to England and a lot of infantry riding in open barges seasick to the low-tide beaches were depending on us to draw the Germans off the causeways and gun batteries. And so, as Porter hurled himself against me, I grabbed both sides of the door and threw myself at the water.” — Private David Kenyon Webster, Parachute Infantry: An American Paratrooper’s Memoir of D-Day and the Fall of the Third Reich

34. “I am firmly convinced that our supporting naval fire got us in; that without the gunfire we positively could not have crossed the beaches.”— Colonel Stanhope B. Mason, Chief of Staff, 1sr Infantry Division

35. “Suddenly, all hell let loose. The beach was under fire from shells, mortars and machine guns, we dived for cover. The sea was covered in blood and vomit and flies began to arrive by the thousands, which created another nightmare. We continued all night and the following day without a break. Slowly, slowly we overcame all the nightmares. There was no lack of humor. A soldier coming ashore asked, ‘Is this a private beach? I was promised a private beach. If not, I am not staying.’ And we heard, ‘My mother told me not to travel by air, she thought it was much safer by sea.’” — David Teacher, No. 71 Royal Air Force Beach Unit

36. “The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.” — General Dwight D. Eisenhower

37. “We know that progress is not inevitable. But neither was victory upon these beaches. Now, as then, the inner voice tells us to stand up and move forward. Now, as then, free people must choose.” — President William J. Clinton, on the 50th Anniversary of D-Day

38. “After enduring all the ordeals and training in England, we felt like we were completely ready for anything, and we were very ready to fight the Germans, and we looked forward to the day that we could actually get into the real fight.” — Sergeant John Robert Slaughter, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division

39. “Rangers, lead the way!” — First Lieutenant Francis W. Dawson, Company D, 5th Ranger Infantry Battalion

40. “When pressure mounts and strain increases, everyone begins to show the weaknesses in his makeup, it is up to the Commander to conceal his: above all to conceal doubt, fear, and distrust.” — General Dwight D. Eisenhower

41. “At that time, we didn't know it was D-Day. We just knew we had a job to do.” — Sergeant Tom Jensen, 626th Engineer Light Equipment Company

42. “We have a sufficiency of troops; we have all the necessary tackle; we have an excellent plan. This is a perfectly normal operation which is certain of success. If anyone has any doubts in his mind, let him stay behind.” — General Bernard L. Montgomery, Commander of the 21st Army Group

43. “There has never been a military operation remotely approaching the scale and the complexity of D-Day. It involved 176,000 troops, more than 12,000 airplanes, almost 10,000 ships, boats, landing craft, frigates, sloops, and other special combat vessels—all involved in a surprise attack on the heavily fortified north coast of France, to secure a beachhead in the heart of enemy-held territory so that the march to Germany and victory could begin. It was daring, risky, confusing, bloody, and ultimately glorious.” — Tom Brokaw, The Greatest Generation

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44. “This operation is not being planned with any alternatives. This operation is planned as a victory, and that's the way it's going to be. We're going down there, and we're throwing everything we have into it, and we're going to make it a success.” — General Dwight D. Eisenhower

45. “Men, I am not a religious man and I don't know your feelings in this matter, but I am going to ask you to pray with me for the success of the mission before us. And while we pray, let us get on our knees and not look down but up with faces raised to the sky so that we can see God and ask His blessing in what we are about to do.” — Lieutenant Colonel Robert L. Wolverton, commanding officer of 3rd battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment

46. “At the edge of the cliffs, the wind is a smack, and D-day becomes wildly clear: climbing that cutting edge into the bullets.” — John Vinocur, former Paris bureau chief, The New York Times

47. “Well, is it or isn’t it the invasion?” — Adolf Hitler to Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel on June 6, 1944

48. “We shall see who fights better and who dies more easily, the German soldier faced with the destruction of his homeland or the Americans and British, who don’t even know what they are fighting for in Europe.” — General Alfred Jodl, operations chief of the German High Command

49. "Seeing later at low tide all those sunken craft. There must have been hundreds of them and thinking, 'You poor devils'. That is something I will always remember.” — Pat Churchill, 2nd Royal Marines Armoured Support Regiment

50. “Let’s remember the brave men, British, Commonwealth, Canadian, American, and European who left these shores and never left back, for their sacrifice, we will be forever in debt.” — Unknown

51. “Believe me, gentlemen, the first 24 hours of this invasion will be decisive! It will become for the Allies, as well as for the Germans, the longest day—the longest day.” — German Field Marshall Erwin Rommel

52. “If D-Day—the greatest amphibious operation ever undertaken—failed, there would be no going back to the drawing board for the Allies. Regrouping and attempting another massive invasion of German-occupied France even a few months later in 1944 wasn’t an option.” — Douglas Brinkley, “The Longest Day,” Time magazine

53. “Here in Normandy the rescue began. Here the Allies stood and fought against tyranny in a giant undertaking unparalleled in human history.” — President Ronald Reagan, on the 40th Anniversary of D-Day

54. “I thought we were going to win because I’d never seen so many planes in my life that came over for the invasion of Normandy.” — Lawrence “Yogi” Berra, Seaman Second Class Lawrence

55. “May we all, as a nation of believers, fight for the achievement of America, may we make sacrifices worthy of those proud men and women who fought for us, labored for us, bled soil from the beaches of Normandy to the fields of Gettysburg for us.” — Senator Cory Booker

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