"D-Day Plus 20 Years - Eisenhower Returns to Normandy"

Less than two months from now, the 80th anniversary of the June 6, 1944 Allied invasion of Europe, D-Day, will take place.

In 1964, CBS Reports commemorated the 20th anniversary of the invasion with Walter Cronkite and Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower with a special. In it, Cronkite and Eisenhower discussed the invasion on the beaches of Normandy, France.

The video of that broadcast is on YouTube. I remember watching it when it first aired in 1964. 

Here's the video's summary:

The Allied invasion of Nazi-controlled France on June 6, 1944 was the largest military invasion in history, involving nearly 160,000 service members arriving by ship and air at Normandy. Its success turned the tide of World War II. Two decades after D-Day, former Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was Supreme Commander in charge of the operation, returned to Normandy. Eisenhower talked with CBS News' Walter Cronkite about his experiences in June 1944, the tactical decisions behind Operation Overlord, and how British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was talked out of joining the invading forces. Eisenhower and Cronkite visited the Allies' war room on England's southern coast; the coast of France, including Pointe du Hoc and Omaha Beach; and the American military cemetery at St. Laurent-on-the-Sea. This special broadcast of "CBS Reports," featuring newsreel footage of the invasion, originally aired in 19 countries around the world on June 5, 1964. 

Walter Cronkite

When Walter Cronkite editorialized in 1968 that the U.S. efforts in Viet Nam were "mired in stalemate," President Lyndon Johnson lamented, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost middle America." Indeed, Johnson did lose middle America.

Walter Cronkite died yesterday at are 92, which was not unexpected as reports trickled out that he was not in good shape.

Cronkite was called "the most trusted man in America." Some didn't trust him. For the most part, his admitted liberal leanings were kept in check during his broadcasts. He said he tried to be fair and professional in his work. When you compare the way Cronkite handled the news to the way the mainstream media covered last year's election campaign, I would have to agree. The pro-Obama media bias was front and center for all to see and it became sickening.

Cronkite covered the 20th Century's biggest stories from World War II to the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. He choked up when he reported the death of President Kennedy. He was at a loss for words as the first images of Neil Armstrong's moonwalk were broadcast.

Some have said that we'll never see someone of the calibre of Walter Cronkite. I disagree. But at present, there is nobody reporting the news on national television who can be labeled "the most trusted man in America."