But I do know this: My father was on Omaha Beach 55 years ago.

CNN: Transcript: White House Counsel Ruff's opening statement

He told tales of the Rangers, the paratroopers, the ordinary people who found in themselves, at such places as Omaha Beach, something extraordinary.

FORBES: Freedom's Edge

But when the Union was turned back at Bull Run, and the Allies first landed at Omaha Beach, victory was very much in doubt.

WHITEHOUSE: The 2010 State of the Union Address

Obama did not mention that Omaha Beach became necessary because in the years leading up to World War II, politicians preferred to look the other way, talk, appease and hope they could muddle through.

FORBES: Freedom's Edge

Their lives ended in places called Belleau Wood, The Argonne, Omaha Beach, Salerno and halfway around the world on Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Pork Chop Hill, the Chosin Reservoir, and in a hundred rice paddies and jungles of a place called Vietnam.

CNN: Inaugural Address