WHERE EACH HIGGINS BOAT WAS
CREATED.
>> Laura: BACK NOW IS RAYMOND
ARROYO AND ALSO JOINING US IS
CRAIG SHIRLEY, PRESIDENTIAL
HISTORIAN, BIOGRAPHER.
I LOVE THAT STORY.
I HAVE THE CHILLS WATCHING IT.
I GET TEARED UP WATCHING IT.
>> THE INGENUITY OF THE
AMERICAN WORKER AND AMERICAN
ENTREPRENEUR HERE ON THE GROUND
AT HOME.
THE UNITY OF PURPOSE, THEY WERE
FIGHTING THE WAR AT HOME ON THE
STREETS OF NEW ORLEANS.
EVERYONE WAS WORKING AROUND THE
CLOCK TO BUILD THESE LANDING
CRAFTS AND AS CHURCHILL SAID
TWO EMPIRES ARE TIED UP IN SOME
THING CALLED LANDING CRAFTS AND
THEY WERE.
>> Laura: CRAIG SHIRLEY, GREAT
TO HAVE YOU ON TONIGHT.
YOU'VE BEEN HERE MANY TIMES TO
NORMANDY.
I WANT TO READ SOMETHING THAT
WAS WRITTEN IN THE "NEW YORK
TIMES" MAGAZINE THAT STRUCK ME
ON MY WAY OVER HERE FROM PARIS
TONIGHT.
MOST MEN IN THE FIRST WAVE
NEVER STOOD A CHANCE.
ALLIED TROOPS KEPT LANDING WAVE
AFTER WAEFRNLT IT WASN'T BOMBS,
ARTILLERY OR TANKS, IT WAS MEN.
MANY OF THEM BOYS SLOGGING UP
THE BEACHES AND CRAWLING OVER
THE CORPSES OF THEIR FRIENDS
THAT WON THE ALLIES A TOE HOLD
AT THE WESTERN EDGE OF EUROPE.
I FEEL LIKE I'LL START CRYING
DURING THIS SHOW.
EVERY GRAVE WE BEHIND US
REPRESENTS A LIFE CUT SHORT AND
GIVEN FOR OUR FREEDOM AND
CRAIG, YOU'VE WRITTEN SO MUCH
ABOUT THIS OVER THE YEARS.
TELL US WHAT'S GOING THROUGH
YOUR MIND TONIGHT.
>> I'M THINKING LISTENING
TONIGHT, LAURA AND WATCHING THE
LAST DAY OR SO IS THAT THE PAGE
IS TURNING ON HISTORY AND THE
BOOK IS CLOSING ON THE LAST
GENERATION.
SO THANK GOD THAT THE ONES WHO
ARE ALIVE ARE THERE TO
CELEBRATE THIS MONUMENTAL
CHALLENGE.
YOU KNOW, OUR OLD FRIEND, WHO
WORKED FOR RONALD REAGAN FOR SO
MANY YEARS, WAS ONE OF THOSE
RANGERS ON ONE OF THOSE TROOP
TRANSPORTS AND WAS ON NORMANDY
ON JUNE 6, 1944.
YEARS LATER I WAS HAVING LUNCH
WITH LYNN AND I JUST HAPPENED
TO LOOK DOWN AND HIS HAND AND
NOTICED THAT HIS TWO FINGERS ON
HIS LEFT HAND WERE GONE.
AND I ALWAYS THOUGHT HE LOST
THEM IN A POWER TOOL ACCIDENT.
I ASKED HIM I SAID LYNN, WHAT
HAPPENED TO YOUR LEFT HAND.
HE SAID NAZI SHRAPNEL.
HE HAD CLIMBED THE CLIFFS AND
PUT HIS HAND UP AND HALF HIS
HAND WAS BLOWN AWAY.
HE NEVER BRAGGED OR TALKED
ABOUT IT.
MOST OF THE GREATEST GENERATION
THEY CAME BACK AND WENT BACK TO
WORK.
A LOT OF THEM DIDN'T LIKE TO
TALK ABOUT IT UNTIL RECENTLY.
BUT HE TOLD ME THAT THE SEAS
WERE SO -- WERE SO WAVY AND SO
UNCONTROLLABLE THAT BY THE TIME
THEY GOT TO THE NORMANDY BEACH
THEY WERE ANKLE DEEP IN PUKE
FROM ALL THE OTHER TROOPS ON
BOARD.
>> Laura: THEY WERE SO SICK.
WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THIS ON
THE WAY OVER TONIGHT.
IT IS PRETTY COLD OUT HERE
TONIGHT.
MAYBE 40 DEGREES.
AND IT'S LIKE LIVE TV.
YOU ARE DOING SO MANY THINGS.
WE STOPPED AND SAY WAIT A
SECOND, THINK ABOUT WHAT WAS
HAPPENING 75 YEARS AGO AT THIS
HOUR.
IN THE DARK.
AND THEY DIDN'T KNOW WHERE
THERE WERE.
HALF THEIR COMPASSS.
HAVE WE GOTTEN SOFT HERE?
>> AS YOU KNOW, CRAIG, ONLY A
FEW OF THE MEN MADE IT OUT OF
THE TRANSPORTS.
30 OF THE 36 MEN WERE KILLED
INSTANTLY BECAUSE OF THE GERMAN
CROSSFIRE THAT THEY WERE
ENCOUNTERING HITTING THE BEACH.
THEY DIDN'T CALL IT BLOODY
NORMANDY FOR NOTHING.
>> I WAS JUST GOING TO SAY THAT
THINK OF THE LOGISTICS OF
PLANNING THE D-DAY INVASION.
YOU ARE MOVING THE POPULATION
OF A MID-SIZE CITY, 150,000 MEN
AND TANKS AND CARGO AND JEEPS
AND MEDICAL SUPPLIES AND FOOD
SUPPLIES AND GUNS AND AMMO AND
ALL THE OTHER THINGS.
THE LOGISTICS THAT WENT INTO
THE PLANNING OF THE D-DAY
INVASION ARE REALLY STAGGERING
IF YOU REALLY THINK ABOUT IT.
JUST MOVING THAT 150,000 WITH
ALL THOSE MUNITIONS AND
SUPPLIES.
THEN 22 MILES ACROSS THE OPEN
SEA THROUGH CHOPPY WATERS TO
THEN LAND AS RAYMOND SAID IN
THE MURDEROUS NAZI CROSSFIRE.
>> Laura: WE PLAYED THIS SOUND
BITE LAST NIGHT.
EVERYTHING IS BLURRING INTO ONE
DAY HERE.
OF THE QUEEN AND WHAT SHE SAID
THIS WEEK ABOUT SHARED
SACRIFICE.
IT IS WORTH WATCHING AGAIN.
>> THE ANNIVERSARY OF D-DAY
REMINDS US OF ALL THAT OUR
COUNTRIES HAVE ACHIEVED
TOGETHER.
AFTER THE SHARED SACRIFICES OF
THE SECOND WORLD WAR, BRITAIN
AND THE UNITED STATES WORKED
WITH OTHER ALLIES TO BUILD AN
ASSEMBLY OF INTERNATIONAL
INSTITUTIONS.
>> Laura: THEY SAID TRUMP WOULD
WRECK THE INTERNATIONAL
INSTITUTIONS, NATO WOULDN'T
SURVIVE TRUMP AND HERE IN A FEW
HOURS HE WILL BE HERE WITH
OTHER WORLD LEADERS TO
CELEBRATE THIS ALLIANCE.
AND HONOR THOSE WHO SERVED AND
THOSE WHO ARE BURIED BEHIND US.
>> YEAH.
I THINK HIS SPEECH TOMORROW IS
GOING TO BE IMPORTANT FOR HIM.
THAT'S AN UNDERSTATEMENT.
IF I WAS GIVING HIM ADVICE
REAGAN SPOKE SO ELOQUENTLY ON
THE 40th ANNIVERSARY ABOUT THE
PAST AND KIND OF BRINGING
CLOSURE TO IT.
TRUMP SHOULD ALMOST BE
SYMMETRICAL AND TALK ABOUT THE
FUTURE OF THE ALLIANCE, THE
FUTURE OF THE UNITED STATES AND
THE WESTERN ALLIANCE, THE
FUTURE OF FREEDOM, OPPORTUNITY
AND CHALLENGES FOR ALL THE
PEOPLE WHO ARE PART -- WERE
PART OF THE ORIGINAL WAR