Speech by Hamlaoui Mekachera at Utah Beach
2003 D-Day Commemorations in Normandy
Speech delivered on Friday, June 6, 2003, at the Franco-American ceremony at Utah Beach.
“Mr. Ambassador,
Mr. Prefect,
Ladies and Gentlemen of Parliament,
Mr. President of the Regional Council,
Mr. President of the General Council,
Mr. President of the Landing Committee,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
On behalf of France, I respectfully salute the heroic combatants we have spoken about since this morning.
I bow with deep emotion before the memory of those who fell on these beaches and for the liberation of our country and all of Europe.
I assure the veterans among us, who do us the great honor of being here, present, as a sign of unwavering gratitude for these pages of history they wrote together with the Allied forces, that they are not and will not be forgotten.
(…)”
