Morning Wire - D-Day Tribute with Michael Reagan | 6.6.24

Episode Date: June 6, 2024

On the 80th anniversary of D-Day, Michael Reagan joins us to reflect on this historic event. As the son of President Ronald Reagan, Michael shares insights into the significance of D-Day and its enduring importance. Michael emphasizes the need for education and remembrance to honor the legacy of those who fought on the beaches of Normandy. Plus he reflects on today’s America and why we need to regain some humility. Get the facts first on Morning Wire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today is the 80th anniversary of the day that ultimately turned the tide of the Second Great War, the Allied Forces invasion of Normandy. Codenamed Operation Overlord, the invasion involved 156,000 allied troops, half of them Americans, who launched a bold assault on five German-occupied and heavily fortified beaches. In this bonus episode, we sit down with Michael Reagan, son of America's beloved 40th president, Ronald Reagan, who famously traveled to Normandy four decades ago to honor the brave soldiers who stormed those beaches. I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with guest host Emily Jashinsky, D.C. correspondent at Unheard.

It's Thursday, June 6th, and this is a special D-Day anniversary edition of Morning Wire. Joining us now to discuss the 80th anniversary of D-Day is Michael Reagan. Michael, thank you so much for coming on. Thank you. First, why is recognizing D-Day still so important? 80 years later. Well, because this anniversary will be the last big anniversary or anyone who came out of a plane on D-Day 80 years ago is going to be present there at Normandy France. There's a million people there right now. There's 46,000 people there right now guarding the

million people and the president who's going to be arriving. It is a huge, huge day this 80th anniversary of D-Day. I've been there on two or three occasions. It's been large, but this one is humongous. Now, many have commented that today's youth and military look a lot different than the generation that stormed the beaches. What aspect of the greatest generation are missing that you think need to be brought back into today's culture? I think that today's youth would dive out of planes to save the world as these did back 80 years ago. My problem is the people who are in school who don't even know why D-Day exists.

I played golf a young man not too many years ago. I was invited in Normandy to raise the American flag at the American cemetery. And I was telling him I was head to France to do that. And he asked me, why is there an American cemetery in France? He had no idea, no concept. I looked at you. I said, did you think D-Day is when you're reporting?

car came out because he had no concept why there was a cemetery in France. And I would tell you, if you run a survey of high school kids today, probably even college kids, and ask about D-Day, they have no idea about D-Day, why we have a cemetery there, and why existed, and why we save that part of the world and actually saved the whole world. That is the thing that bothers me. Not the ones who were in the military now, who have given their lives, their arms, pieces, their body and what have you, but ones that are really scary to me are the kids in school who have no concept why and what we've done. Yeah.

And what could be done to remedy this? How can we best go about educating today's students on World War II and the Holocaust? You know, I learned it. I learned it from my dad. She's the right front seat of a station wagon any given Saturday morning, picking me up from a mom's house, driving me out to the ranch in Malibu. you all remember the ranch dad had during the presidency. This is the ranch I grew up on in Malibu.

And regaling me, songs, military, army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard. And telling me about this country, telling me about how great it was and is, and telling me stories. And too often we parents, conservatives also, leaving up to schools to educate our kids. Well, how's that working out? It's not working out. So we've got to take it back ourselves, homeschool the kids, or at least educate them on this D-Day, this 80th anniversary, and what these people are willing to do and willing to give to save the world. You mentioned your father.

Can you explain your father's significance around recognizing formally D-Day? Well, it's interesting because President Biden going to Normandy to speak on D-Day. But it was my father, 40 years ago, was the first president to actually go to Normandy on D-Day and speak as he did. Right, a truly historic moment in 1984. Here's a bit of that famous speech. When all our Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy 40 years ago, they came not as conquerors, but as 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. We salute them today. I would suggest to people listening to this. Go to YouTube.

Pull out dad's speech at Point the Heart. The boys appoint the Hot. And listen to that. And look at the video. and the cliffs these kids climbed at 17, some lied about their age, at 16, 17, 18 years old, going up these cliffs with machine gun firing down at them. Listen that speech.

First president to speak on D-Day in Normandy, France, and every president now, since my father, has followed suit and been in Normandy on D-Day to speak. The education of young conservatives continues, through the efforts of the Reagan Library and the Reagan Ranch. Is that the legacy of your father? Oh, absolutely right. The library has a great job. Big events celebrating the 20th anniversary. My dad's passing this week. Of course, the 40th anniversary of going to Normandy, what they do there, the scholarship programs that they have there. I go there so often. I'm probably there once a month.

I take people on tours. I play docent for a day. I love doing it. So they refer to me at the library as the prequel because I have stories behind the stories that they tell. And I work a lot with the Young America Foundation who bought the ranch back in 1998. I'll be speaking to 200 high school students at the Ranch Center in Santa Barbara on the 19th of this month. And they'll be up at the ranch to be able to walk in the footsteps of my father, see the building. The ranch house is exactly the way it was the last time my dad was there. He didn't know he wasn't going back because of Alzheimer's. And Young America's Foundation has done a phenomenal job of taking care of it

that now have bought the boyhood home there in Illinois. Now they're in charge of the home. He was born in in Tampa, Illinois, and they bring kids from the Midwest all over the world actually to come in, learn about my father. So that's where the legacy is. It's through the Young America's Foundation and the ranch and the homes and the Reagan Library with what his accomplishments were.

prior to becoming president, but also as president. To just, if you haven't been any of those places, you need to go. And what do you think it's important for younger generations to understand who Ronald Reagan was? And what do you think they need to know about him and his beliefs? The humility. We've lost humility in this country. Nobody's humble anymore. You know, my dad's one of his greatest lines was what?

Don't worry who gets to credit. You accomplish so many things if you don't worry who. gets the credit. Today, there's too many people taking credit and not giving credit. I mean, look at the, look when he accomplished from Mikhail Gorbachev. Because he's willing to give him credit. You knew he had to build up Mikhail Gorbachev in Russia in order to get ultimately what he needed, which is the Berlin Wall coming down. Right. He had to work with many people. You talked about this country with, you know, leadership and where

we are, but there's no leaders in the world. There's no manufacturers, Michael Habel, Helmut Cole, McHawaterchoff, Pope John Paul. None of those people exist today. And Dad found a way to work with all of them to accomplish, you know, ending the Cold War, bringing down the Berlin Wall. And that's why we honor through my Reagan Legacy Foundation, which people go to Reaganelagacy Foundation.org and go there. We have a scholarship program for the kids that serve on the USS Ronald Reagan.

We provide them scholarships not only for them, but for their family members, They're home waiting for them trying to better education. We have a brick project. You can go online and purchase a brick for $250. We'll tax deductible, 501C3. Put a name on it, or if you don't donate the money to the foundation. We'll put the name as someone who dove out of a plane in a European theater 80 years ago and we'll honor them with a brick at St. Mary Glees, Normandy, France,

which is the first town freed by America on D-Day morning at 4 a.m. in the morning. So go there and see what we're doing. And if you really want to get involved, that's the way to get involved. Final question. Have you seen the new Reagan film starring Dennis Quaid? No. There is a big preview of it on August 20th here in Hollywood. I think it opens on Labor Day weekend.

Are you excited or nervous about watching it? I'm always nervous when I see somebody play my dad. I'm always nervous, you know, and I'm saying to go, okay. You know, or interpreting what he did or what he did. he's doing. I'm always nervous. I've known Mark Joseph forever, so I trust him, but you always get nervous, but my family will be there on the 20th of August to see the whole thing. I'm sure that'll be a very notable experience. Thank you so much for talking with us. Hey, thank you very much. God bless. That was Michael Reagan, and this has been a special D-Day edition of Morning Wire.