<p>Boy Scouts of America Tranatlantic Council Normandy Camporee, Omaha Beach, Normandy</p><p>27 April 2008</p><p>Good morning.</p><p>Thank you Col Kavanaugh. Mr. Michel Bart, Ms. Virginia Murray, Mr. Daniel Neese, Ms. Therese Gandrey-Rety, Mayors and Dignitaries, and our Scouts, leaders and families. I am honored to share this special day with you here in Normandy. I look out over the audience today and see the face of Scouting in Europe. I first have to congratulate all involved in this great event. To bring together almost 3,000 scouts and leaders from 92 units in 12 different countries is no small task. Well done!</p><p>One of the highlights for me has been the opportunity to meet several of you. I participated in last night’s Campfire Ceremony and was proud and amazed at the great things scouts are doing for their nation and communities throughout Europe. I am also reminded, not only of what scouting is doing now, but what it directly contributed here in June of 1944. </p><p>Coming to this cemetery for the closing event it is necessary to understand what happened on D-Day. I say this because I believe our nation defines itself by the way it honors its heroes. This cemetery, on a spot that was paid for in American lives, helps us to understand the cost and need for freedom. To put today’s events in perspective, we should first reflect on the events of 64 years ago. </p><p>The world was at war from Europe to the Pacific. The darkness had been over the continent of Europe since 1939. Boy Scouts, even prior to America’s entry in the war, were already assuming its place in her defense.</p><p>President Franklin Roosevelt, in a nationwide 1941 radio address commemorating the 31st anniversary of the Boy Scouts in America, made the following statement:</p><p>“The Boy Scouts of today are approaching manhood at a grave hour in the world’s history …The United States must be strong if our free way of life is to be maintained, and for our national policy we, as a nation, have adopted the motto of the Boy Scout organization - Be Prepared” </p><p>Ten months after that speech, the darkness of war descended on the United States at Pearl Harbor, where my father, an Army Air Corps fighter pilot, and my mother were stationed and with the nation endured the next four years of conflict. </p><p>On the home front, Boy Scouts contributed to the war effort by distributing war bonds, salvaging critical materials such as rubber, and helping medical and fire brigades. Boy Scouts entered the armed forces in droves bringing their training, teamwork, and skills to a country in conflict. As a testament to their abilities and patriotism, of all of the medals presented during World War II for heroism, 75% were earned by former scouts. </p><p>On June 6th 1944, Europe’s long night came to an end as allied forces liberated a continent and brought light where darkness had been. Boy Scouts were among the first into Normandy and led the way for the nation to follow.</p><p>The hour of liberation began as Boy Scouts-turned-paratroopers landed in Ste Mere Eglise. The airborne drops were scattered throughout the Normandy countryside. Boy Scout training proved invaluable as airborne soldiers fought their way across difficult terrain to ensure the success of the landings by seizing key roads and bridges. The paratroopers would soon be joined by Free French, British, Canadian and other allied forces coming by sea. </p><p>One former Boy Scout determined the course of the war near here on Utah Beach. Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, the son of former President Theodore Roosevelt, was active in scouting as a youth and as an adult. Prior to the war, he was even Vice President of the Boy Scouts of America. On D-Day, he insisted that he land with the first wave to lead and inspire the men. </p><p>Serving as the Assistant Division Commander of the 4th Infantry Division, he was the only general to land in the first wave. Roosevelt was soon informed that the landing craft had drifted more than a mile south of their objective, and the first wave was a mile off course. Walking with the aid of a cane and carrying a pistol, he personally made a reconnaissance of the area immediately to the rear of the beach to locate the causeways that were to be used for the advance inland. He then returned to the point of landing and coordinated the attack on the enemy positions confronting them. </p><p>Roosevelt's famous words in these circumstances were, "We’ll start the war from right here!" With artillery landing close by, each follow-on regiment was personally welcomed on the beach by a cool, calm, and collected Roosevelt, who inspired all with humor and confidence, reciting poetry and telling anecdotes of his father to steady the nerves of his men. </p><p>For his actions that day, he was later awarded the Medal of Honor. He died in Normandy the next month of a heart attack, and is buried here at this cemetery. </p><p>Col James Rudder, who achieved Eagle Scout in youth, led the assault on Pointe Du Hoc. Serving as the Commander of the United States Army's 2nd Ranger Battalion, he was given the task of destroying German artillery guns. The destruction of these German guns was critical, as they had the ability to fire on both the Omaha and Utah landing beaches and out to sea from a range of 25,000 yards. Rudder, like Roosevelt, insisted he lead the assault, despite protests from his commanders. </p><p>Rudder and his 225 men scaled 100-foot cliffs shortly after H-Hour under constant German fire to reach their objective. The battalion's casualty rate was greater than 50 percent. Following their relief, only 90 men remained capable of fighting. Rudder himself was wounded twice during the course of the fighting. The Rangers held off German counter-attacks for two days until relieved. Rudder and his Rangers ensured the invasion forces were able to establish a beachhead for the Allied forces in those critical hours.</p><p>The former Boy Scouts who landed on D-Day, with Roosevelt and Rudder, made the difference that enabled a continent to be free. </p><p>I like to believe the birth of European Command came right where Theodore Roosevelt landed. The difference in this invading army is that they did not come to conquer. President Ronald Reagan summed it up well on this spot on the fortieth anniversary of D- day in 1984: </p><p>“They came not as conquerors, but liberators. When these troops swept across the French countryside and into the forests of Belgium and Luxembourg they came not to take, but to return what had been wrongly seized. When our forces marched into Germany, they came not to prey on a brave and defeated people, but to nurture the seeds of democracy among those who yearned to be free again”</p><p>Former Boy Scouts today are making a difference in another war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Like their brothers from Normandy sixty plus years before, they also serve in another fight for their country and for freedom. Marine 1Lt Andrew Kinard, a former Boy Scout and Eagle Scout, was serving in Iraq when he was severely wounded in a bomb blast. Speaking at a recent Boy Scouts of America luncheon, Kinard led the crowd in the Scout Oath and Law: "On my honor I will do my best; to do my duty to God and my country."</p><p>Kinard said that while he was sure to memorize every word as a young boy, its meaning did not become clear until later in life. The words he spoke as a Boy Scout rang true in his military career. We can see the truth in Kinard’s statement by the names in this cemetery. Just as the Boy Scouts need the support of their communities to accomplish what's stated in the oath, Kinard concluded, America needs the Boy Scouts to accomplish their mission for peace.</p><p>The Boy Scouts of yesterday join with you the Boy Scouts of today. There are some resting here in this cemetery watching and silently encouraging us in service to the nation to ensure its security and peace. They tell us to serve our country and ensure that their sacrifice was not in vain. </p><p>In a sense, the soldiers who rest here have another memorial. The memorial is a living one. The memorial is found every time you put on a Boy Scout uniform. The same heart of Theodore Roosevelt and James Rudder beats in all of you today. Let their example be a light to you to do your best “To do my duty to God and my country.”</p><p>Thank you.</p>