里根于1984年纪念诺曼底登陆四十周年演讲

里根于1984年纪念诺曼底登陆四十周年演讲 英文版

We’re here to mark that day in history when the Allied armies joined in battle to reclaim this continent to liberty.

For four long years, much of Europe had been under a terrible shadow. Free nations had fallen, Jews cried out in the camps, millions cried out for liberation. Europe was enslaved and the world prayed for its rescue. Here, in Normandy, the rescue began. Here, the Allies stood and fought against tyranny, in a giant undertaking unparalleled in human history.

We stand on a lonely, windswept point on the northern shore of France. The air is soft, but forty years ago at this moment, the air was dense with smoke and the cries of men, and the air was filled with the crack of rifle fire and the roar of cannon. At dawn, on the morning of the 6th of June, 1944, two hundred and twenty-five Rangers jumped off the British landing craft and ran to the bottom of these cliffs.

Their mission was one of the most difficult and daring of the invasion: to climb these sheer and desolate cliffs and take out the enemy guns. The Allies had been told that some of the mightiest of these guns were here, and they would be trained on the beaches to stop the Allied advance.

The Rangers looked up and saw the enemy soldiers at the edge of the cliffs, shooting down at them with machine guns and throwing grenades. And the American Rangers began to climb. They shot rope ladders over the face of these cliffs and began to pull themselves up. When one Ranger fell, another would take his place. When one rope was cut, a Ranger would grab another and begin his climb again. They climbed, shot back, and held their footing. Soon, one by one, the Rangers pulled themselves over the top, and in seizing the firm land at the top of these cliffs, they began to seize back the continent of Europe. Two hundred and twenty-five came here. After two days of fighting, only ninety could still bear arms.

And behind me is a memorial that symbolizes the Ranger daggers that were thrust into the top of these cliffs. And before me are the men who put them there. These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. And these are the heroes who helped end a war. Gentlemen, I look at you and I think of the words of Stephen Spender’s poem. You are men who in your“lives fought for life and left the vivid air signed with your honor.”

I think I know what you may be thinking right now—thinking“we were just part of a bigger effort; everyone was brave that day.”Well everyone was. Do you remember the story of Bill Millin of the 51st Highlanders? Forty years ago, today, British troops were pinned down near a bridge, waiting desperately for help. Suddenly, they heard the sound of bagpipes, and some thought they were dreaming. Well, they weren’t. They looked up and saw Bill Millin with his bagpipes, leading the reinforcements and ignoring the smack of the bullets into the ground around him.

Lord Lovat was with him—Lord Lovat of Scotland, who calmly announced when he got to the bridge,“Sorry, I’m a few minutes late,”as if he’d been delayed by a traffic jam, when in truth he’d just come from the bloody fighting on Sword Beach, which he and his men had just taken.

There was the impossible valor of the Poles, who threw themselves between the enemy and the rest of Europe as the invasion took hold; and the unsurpassed courage of the Canadians who had already seen the horrors of war on this coast. They knew what awaited them there, but they would not be deterred. And once they hit Juno Beach, they never looked back.

All of these men were part of a roll call of honor with names that spoke of a pride as bright as the colors they bore; The Royal Winnipeg Rifles, Poland’s 24th Lancers, the Royal Scots’ Fusiliers, the Screaming Eagles, the Yeomen of England’s armored divisions, the forces of Free France, the Coast Guard’s“Matchbox Fleet,”and you, the American Rangers.

Forty summers have passed since the battle that you fought here. You were young the day you took these cliffs; some of you were hardly more than boys, with the deepest joys of life before you. Yet you risked everything here. Why? Why did you do it? What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these cliffs? What inspired all the men of the armies that met here? We look at you, and somehow we know the answer. It was faith and belief. It was loyalty and love.

The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead, or on the next. It was the deep knowledge—and prays God we have not lost it—that there is a profound moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt.

You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One’s country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it’s the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you.

The Americans who fought here that morning knew word of the invasion was spreading through the darkness back home. They fought—or felt in their hearts, though they couldn’t know in fact, that in Georgia they were filling the churches at 4:00 am. In Kansas they were kneeling on their porches and praying. And in Philadelphia they were ringing the Liberty Bell.

Something else helped the men of D-day; their rock-hard belief that Providence would have a great hand in the events that would unfold here; that God was an ally in this great cause. And so, the night before the invasion, when Colonel Walkerton asked his parachute troops to kneel with him in prayer, he told them:“Do not bow your heads, but look up so you can see God and ask His blessing in what we’re about to do.”Also, that night, General Matthew Ridgway on his cot, listening in the darkness for the promise God made to Joshua: “I will not fail thee nor forsake thee.”

These are the things that impelled them; these are the things that shaped the unity of the Allies.

When the war was over, there were lives to be rebuilt and governments to be returned to the people. There were nations to be reborn. Above all, there was a new peace to be assured. These were huge and daunting tasks. But the Allies summoned strength from the faith, belief, loyalty, and love of those who fell here. They rebuilt a new Europe together. There was first a great reconciliation among those who had been enemies, all of whom had suffered so greatly. The United States did its part, creating the Marshall Plan to help rebuild our allies and our former enemies. The Marshall Plan led to the Atlantic alliance—a great alliance that serves to this day as our shield for freedom, for prosperity, and for peace.

In spite of our great efforts and successes, not all that followed the end of the war was happy or planned. Some liberated countries were lost. The great sadness of this loss echoes down to our own time in the streets of Warsaw, Prague, and East Berlin. The Soviet troops that came to the center of this continent did not leave when peace came. They’re still there, uninvited, unwanted, unyielding, almost forty years after the war. Because of this, allied forces still stand on this continent. Today, as forty years ago, our armies are here for only one purpose: to protect and defend democracy. The only territories we hold are memorials like this one and graveyards where our heroes rest.

We in America have learned bitter lessons from two world wars. It is better to be here ready to protect the peace, than to take blind shelter across the sea, rushing to respond only after freedom is lost. We’ve learned that isolationism never was and never will be an acceptable response to tyrannical governments with an expansionist intent. But we try always to be prepared for peace, prepared to deter aggression, prepared to negotiate the reduction of arms, and yes, prepared to reach out again in the spirit of reconciliation. In truth, there is no reconciliation we would welcome more than a reconciliation with the Soviet Union, so, together, we can lessen the risks of war, now and forever.

It’s fitting to remember here the great losses also suffered by the Russian people during World War II. Twenty million perished, a terrible price that testifies to all the world the necessity of ending war. I tell you from my heart that we in the United States do not want war. We want to wipe from the face of the earth the terrible weapons that man now has in his hands. And I tell you, we are ready to seize that beachhead. We look for some sign from the Soviet Union that they are willing to move forward, that they share our desire and love for peace, and that they will give up the ways of conquest. There must be a changing there that will allow us to turn our hope into action.

We will pray forever that someday that changing will come. But for now, particularly today, it is good and fitting to renew our commitment to each other, to our freedom, and to the alliance that protects it.

We’re bound today by what bound us 40 years ago, the same loyalties, traditions, and beliefs. We’re bound by reality. The strength of America’s allies is vital to the United States, and the American security guarantee is essential to the continued freedom of Europe’s democracies. We were with you then; we’re with you now. Your hopes are our hopes, and your destiny is our destiny.

Here, in this place where the West held together, let us make a vow to our dead. Let us show them by our actions that we understand what they died for. Let our actions say to them the words for which Matthew Ridgway listened:“I will not fail thee nor forsake thee.”

Strengthened by their courage, heartened by their value, and borne by their memory, let us continue to stand for the ideals for which they lived and died.

Thank you very much, and God bless you all.

里根于1984年纪念诺曼底登陆四十周年演讲 中文版

我们在这里纪念那历史性的一天，盟军联合作战，为自由而收复这片大陆的日子。

在四年之久的时间里，众多欧洲人生活在恐怖阴影之中，自由国家陷落，犹太人在集中营哭泣，数百万人为自由而哭喊。欧洲被奴役，世界为营救行动而祈祷。在这里，诺曼底，营救行动开始。为了这项人类历史上空前绝后的伟大事业，联军从这里开始奋起反抗暴政。

我们此刻站在这个法国北方海岸人迹罕至、风霜尽吹之地，空气清新。但四十年前的此刻，这里硝烟弥漫，呼声鼎沸，枪林弹雨，炮声隆隆。黎明，1944年6月6日那个黎明，225名突击队员跳下英国登陆艇，冲向这些悬崖峭壁的底端。

这次登陆任务中，他们的使命异常艰巨：攀上这些陡峭荒芜的悬崖，解除敌人的武装。盟军获悉这个滩头装备了高效的杀伤武器，将用于阻止盟军登陆。

突击队员们仰面看到敌军士兵就在悬崖边，用机枪向他们扫射并投掷手榴弹。美国突击队员开始攀援。他们把绳索投往头顶的悬崖，借此引体向上。一个突击队员倒下，另一个接续上去;一根绳索打断，抓住另一根绳索继续攀援。他们边攀登，边驻足还击。不久，他们一个接一个攀上崖顶。他们夺回悬崖之上坚实土地之时，也是他们夺回欧洲大陆的开始。225名人来到这里，两天的战斗之后，只剩下90名士兵一息尚存。

在我背后是纪念碑，象征那些刺入悬崖顶端突击队员的威力。在我前面是那些投身于此役的人。他们是奥克角之子，他们是战胜悬崖绝壁的勇士，他们是协助解放一个大陆的冠军，他们也是结束一场战争的英雄。先生们，看见你们，我想起了斯蒂芬·斯彭德的诗句，你们是那些人：“以命相许你的荣耀谱写了天空的绚丽。”

我想，我知道你们此刻可能在想什么：“我们不过是伟大战役的一部分，在那个日子里无人不勇。”是的，无人不勇。你们记得51高地上贝尔·米林的故事吗?四十年前的今天，英国军队被困于一座桥的附近亟待增援。突然，他们听到了风笛的声音，有人以为他们在做梦。但这不是梦，他们抬起头看见贝尔·米林吹着风笛，带领援兵冒着枪林弹雨，进入他们所在的战地。

劳得·拉瓦特是其中之一。劳得·拉瓦特是苏格兰人。他走向桥的时候平静地宣布：“对不起，我来晚了几分钟。”好像他因交通拥挤受阻，其实他刚刚与战友们从血战中的剑滩杀出。

这里有勇猛出奇的波兰人，当入侵开始时投身于敌战区与欧洲最后的自由领土之间，还有已经在这个海岸见识了征战之残酷的大无畏的加拿大人。他们知道在那里等待他们的是什么，但是他们没有退缩。而且一旦越上加诺海滩，他们决不回头。

所有这些人都是一份荣誉花名册的一部分，这份花名册上的名字呼之骄傲而自豪，明亮如他们色彩斑斓的着装：皇家温尼伯突袭队、波兰第二十四骑兵、皇家苏格兰枪手、尖叫之鹰、英格兰义勇军装甲师、法国自由武装、海岸警卫“火柴盒舰队”、还有你们，美国突击队。

自你们参与的那场征战至今，四十个寒暑过去了。拿下这些峭壁时你们正年轻，有些不过初出茅庐，热爱置身其间的生活。但是你们却打包了自己的和平，进入他人的战争。为什么?为什么你们这样做?是什么驱使你们不顾自我保护的本能，冒着生命危险攀登这些峭壁?是什么激励所有到这里集合的军人?望着你们，我们觉得我们知道答案。这个答案就是信心与信仰，就是忠诚与爱。

诺曼底人坚信：在这个滩头阵地或下一个阵地上，他们所战是正义之役，所为是博爱之举，所获将是正义上帝应允他们此战的奇迹。这是一种深深的认知——祈祷上帝我们不要失败——使用武力争取自由和使用武力实行侵略征服，两者在道德上有天壤之别。你们到此是捍卫自由，不是侵略征服。所以，你们和你们的战友们没有怀疑自己的出征理由。你们确信是正确的。

你们都知道有些事值得为之献身。一个人的国家值得为之献身，民主值得为之献身，因为它是最高荣耀的政府形式，由人民设计而成。你们都热爱自由，你们都坚决反对暴政，你们都知道自己国家的人民站在背后支持你们。

那个早晨，在这里参战的美国军人都知道，开战的消息在自己家乡的黑夜中扩散。人们虽然无法确定，但他们心有灵犀。以致于在乔治亚，他们凌晨四点涌入大小教堂;在肯尼亚，他们在自己门前跪下祈祷;在费城，他们敲响了那座自由钟。

还有一些事帮助了诺曼底登陆日的人们，他们坚信上苍于此事件中将在这里施展其大手笔，而上帝乃是这一伟大事业的盟友。所以，在开战前夜，当沃·武尔顿上校要求他的伞兵部队与他一起跪下祈祷时，他告诉他们：“不要低下你的头，而要抬起来，所以你能仰望上帝并要求他为我们的所为祝福。”也是在那天夜里，马修·莱德威将军在他的帆布床上，于黑暗中聆听上帝对约书亚的承诺：“我将不使你失败也不会抛弃你。”

正是这些激励了他们，凝聚盟国团结一致。

当战争结束，生活得以重建，政府得以回归人民，新的民族得以诞生。在所有这一切之上，新的和平得以确立。工作繁多，任务艰巨，但是盟国以倒在这里人们的信仰、信心、荣誉和爱凝聚力量，他们共同重建了一个新的欧洲。在那里，在从前的敌人之间(他们都曾承受了如此巨大的痛苦)第一次产生了伟大的和解。美国尽了自己的义务，开创马歇尔计划帮助我们的盟友和我们先前的敌人重建家园。马歇尔计划导致大西洋联盟，伟大的联盟作为我们自由、繁荣与和平的保障延续至今。

无论我们拥有多么伟大的成就与成功，并非战后的一切都令人满意或按照计划进展。一些获得解放的国家失败了，失败的巨大悲哀回荡在华沙、布拉格和东柏林的大街上，渲染了我们的时空。进入这片大陆腹地的苏联军队在和平降临时并未撤离。他们仍然待在那里，未经邀请，不受欢迎，强硬不退，直到战后至今已将近四十年之久。今天，一如四十年前，我们聚集这里只为一个目的：保护和捍卫民主。我们唯一占据的领地是类似这样的纪念地，还有墓地，在那里安息着我们的英雄。

在美国，我们从两次世界大战中学到了痛苦的教训。守在这里，枕戈待旦，护卫和平，比丧失自由后再背着挡箭牌冲过大洋，仓促应战要好一些。我们懂得了，针对欲意扩张的残暴政府，孤立主义过去不是而且永远也不会是最恰当的反应。但是我们总是试图准备适应和平、准备阻止侵略、准备谈判以削减军队，而且在内心准备再度追求和解。事实上，没有和解像与苏联和解那样更使我们充满期盼。所以，我们在一起可以减少战争危险，从现在到永远。

不应该忘记的是俄国人民在二战期间的巨大损失中承受的痛苦：两千万人死亡，这向全世界表明了结束这场战争所需的骇人听闻的代价。我可以扪心禀告你们：我们美国人不想要战争。我们想从地球上抹去现在持在人类手中可憎的武器。而且让我告诉你们：我们准备好了收复那片失地。我们期待来自苏联的某些迹象：他们愿意向前走的迹象，他们持有与我们相同意愿与爱好和平的迹象，以及他们愿意放弃征服之道的迹象。现实必须有所改变，以便能够使我们将希望付诸实际。

我们将恒久地祈祷有朝一日变化的到来。但是现在特别是今天，重申我们彼此之间的、对自由的以及对保护这一自由之联盟的承诺，不仅必要而且正当其时。

四十年前的盟谊使我们今天以同样的忠诚、传统和信念连结在一起。我们为现实结盟。美国盟国的意志对于美国至关重大，美国安全的保障对欧洲民主国家的持续自由至关重要。我们过去跟你们站在一起，现在也跟你们站在一起。你们的希望就是我们的希望，你们的命运就是我们的命运。

在这里，在这个西方共同守护的地方，让我们向我们的死难者起誓。让我们用自己的行动向他们表白，我们深知他们为何而死。让我们用行动告诉他们，马修·莱德威听到的那句承诺：“我将不使你失败，也不会抛弃你。”

他们的勇气支撑我们，他们的价值激励我们，他们的记忆凝聚我们，为了那些他们生死与之的理想，让我们继续恪尽职守。

非常感谢你们，上帝护佑你们。