The last notes of Taps had faded and the smoke of a military gun salute rose across the Normandy cemetery as the roar of the four F-35s turned into thunder.
When one of the pilots opened the throttle and accelerated into the skies in the ‘missing man’ formation, President Joe Biden was thrilled.
He had spent the day joking with the last surviving veterans of the D-Day landings before giving a speech linking their heroics to modern warfare and dictators, and it all came out in the form of a punch.
“Surrendering to bullies, bowing to dictators, is simply unthinkable,” he said moments before, with 30 D-Day veterans sitting behind him.
“If we did that, it would mean we would be forgetting what happened here on these sacred beaches.”
In front of him was the sand of Omaha Beach, where some 2,400 American servicemen died on June 6, 1944.
An emotional President Joe Biden raises his fist at the end of his remarks on the 80th anniversary of D-Day during the “missing man” flyover in Normandy.
They were part of the largest amphibious landing in history and the beginning of the march on Berlin.
It was the kind of day when Biden is in his element: mourning the dead, celebrating the eventual victory and tying the thread of history to his great message that democracy is fragile and must be defended.
And their appearance will undoubtedly last until November in the form of campaign ads.
Biden flew to Normandy on Thursday morning, along with other world leaders gathered for the anniversary.
In a glass viewing platform, overlooking the beach and water, he met 30 of the men who risked their lives in the assault.
It’s a rare occasion when the 81-year-old president is surrounded by an older generation, but he reveled in their company, handing out specially commissioned challenge coins and joking with them.
“The greatest generation that ever lived,” he told one veteran, who told the president he was 102 years old.
Those who were able to stand rose to shake the president’s hand. Some needed the first lady’s firm grip to help them stay upright.
Overhead, the sun beat down. The English Channel was tame, the sky clear: conditions much better than D-Day, when the Allies knew they had only a window of hours to launch their invasion and send 150,000 troops into Nazi-occupied France.
At one point, Biden bent his knees to look directly into the eyes of a veteran, grabbing his wrists as he did so. ‘You saved the world,’ was his message.
It was the kind of day when Biden is in his element: mourning the dead, celebrating the eventual victory and tying the thread of history to his great message that democracy is fragile and must be defended.
Biden greets World War II veteran Victor Chaney after he was presented with the Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur (French Legion of Honor) during the ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
Another slumped heavily in his wheelchair after meeting the president.
“Don’t get old,” said Army veteran Robert Gibson, 100, of New Jersey. Biden was a small child when Gibson and his comrades arrived at Utah Beach in the second wave of troops.
Its fragility is a reminder that there won’t be many more opportunities to see the veterans in Normandy, and Biden made the most of it, encouraging everyone to join in a round of ‘Happy Birthdays’ when he learned it was to celebrate his birthday on Saturday.
Not far away, two titans of World War II cinema, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, were chatting with each other in the shade of a tree.
Until Senator Ted Cruz showed up.
“Tom Hanks managed to stay away, but Spielberg got stuck talking to him and seemed to hate every second of it,” said one viewer.
In addition to using his big speech to remember the sacrifice of so many people, Biden was just one of the world leaders who used the echo of history to convey a very contemporary message.
In his case, it included a hint that the United States’ commitments around the world are at stake in the November elections, when it faces Donald Trump and his more isolationist manifesto.
Trump has said he will not defend allies who are “delinquent” on their defense spending.
“Democracy is never guaranteed,” Biden said in his speech. ‘Each generation must preserve it, defend it and fight for it. That is the test of all time.
“Don’t get old,” said Army veteran Robert Gibson, 100, of New Jersey. Biden was a small child when Gibson and his comrades arrived at Utah Beach in the second wave of troops.
It is a rare occasion when the 81-year-old president is surrounded by an older generation.
Biden flew to Normandy on Thursday morning, along with other world leaders gathered for the anniversary.
‘We must remember that the fact that they were heroes here that day does not exempt us from what we have to do today. ‘Democracy is never guaranteed,’ Biden said.
‘Each generation must preserve it, defend it and fight for it. That is the test of all time.
That means supporting Ukraine, whose president, Volodymyr Zelenky, was in Normandy for the commemorations.
“Isolationism was not the answer 80 years ago and it is not the answer today,” Biden said in his speech, drawing his biggest applause.
Biden reveled in their company, handing out specially commissioned challenge coins and joking with them.
“We will not walk away,” Biden said. “Because if we do, Ukraine will be subjugated and it will not end there.”
In total, 180 veterans of the Normandy campaign were present to hear him speak. They arrived with granddaughters and grandsons, with caps that identified their units and with medals pinned to their chests.
On the way out, they stopped to take selfies with young service members, who were clearly in awe of the men who preceded them.
Some ran with the joy of fans at a Taylor Swift concert.
