 Good evening. And welcome to the William G. McGowan theater here at the National Archives. I'm David Ferriero, the Archivist of the United States. And I'm pleased that you could join us to view the film, The True Glory, with our special guest, Chuck Hagel. Tonight's screening is presented in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of D-Day, June 6, 1944, and as made possible in part by the National Archives Foundation through the generous support of the Boeing Company. And we thank them for their support. Before we start the film, I'd like to let you know about two other programs coming up soon in this theater. On Thursday, June 13, that noon, author Tammy Visual will be here to discuss and sign her latest book, Moms and Chief, the Rhetoric of Republican Motherhood and the Spouses of Presidential Nominees, 1992 to 2016, which explores the function of spouses in recent political campaigns. Then that evening, at 7 p.m., we'll partner with the United States Association of Former Members of Congress with the 2020 Women's Vote Centennial Initiative and the National Women's History Alliance to present a panel of discussion, the female candidate for office, challenges, and hurdles. Washington Post columnist Alexandra Petrie will moderate the discussion, which will include Anne Lewis, former White House Director of Communications, and former members of Congress, Donna Edwards, Barbara Comstock, and Connie Morella. Both of these programs are presented in conjunction with our exhibit, Rightfully Hers, American Women and the Vote, upstairs in our Lawrence F. O'Brien Gallery. Check our website at archives.gov or sign up at the table outside the theater. You get email updates and you'll also find information about other National Archives programs and activities. And another way to get more involved with the National Archives is to become a member of the National Archives Foundation. The foundation supports our education and outreach activities and a little known secret that I keep repeating. No one has ever been turned down for membership in the National Archives Foundation. On June 6, 1944, Allied Forces launched the greatest amphibious invasion the world has ever seen. The historic D-Day invasion of Normandy, France was a turning point in World War II, but it was just the initial assault on a massive operation that liberated Western Europe from the grip of Nazi Germany on May 7, 1945. The true glory, a joint production of the U.S. Office of War Information and the British Ministry of Information, is the epic film record of the June 6, 1944 invasion of Normandy and the Allied push across Europe. The National Archives Motion Picture Preservation Lab in College Park, Maryland digitally restored the film in 2014 for the 70th anniversary, and that is the version we'll be seeing tonight. And I think we have some members of the preservation unit in the audience. Can you raise your hand if you're here? I guess not. But I thank them anyway for the work that they've done. And now it's my honor to introduce our special guest Chuck Hagel, who will deliver keynote remarks before we start tonight's film. Chuck served as the 24th Secretary of Defense from 2013 to 2015. He's the only Vietnam veteran and enlisted combat veteran to have served as Secretary of Defense. He represented the State of Nebraska and the U.S. Senate for two terms from 1997 to 2009. In the Senate, Secretary Hagel was a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations, Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and Intelligence Committees. Previously, Secretary Hagel was Co-Chairman of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board, Deputy Administrator of the Veterans Administration, a distinguished professor at Georgetown University, Chairman of the Atlantic Council, Chairman of the United States of America, Vietnam War Commemoration, Advisory Committee, Co-Chairman of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. He is a senior advisor to Gallup and distinguished statesman at the Atlantic Council, and currently serves on the Rand Board of Trustees, PBS Board, and American Security Project Board. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Chuck Hagel. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Well, I'm, first of all, very appreciative of the fact that David and his team asked me to come by tonight and share some thoughts with you about this important day in world history, in our history. So thank you for being here and your support of the archives and our veterans in the audience tonight. Thank you for what you have done for this country and the families of veterans. Thank you. Five years ago today, I had the honor of participating in the 70th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy with President Obama and the American delegation. I don't know if ever in my life I have ever experienced a more solemn occasion, one that truly riveted your attention to not just the day and the acknowledgement of what happened 70 years ago on that beach, but also what it produced, what was the consequence of that day and now 75 years ago? I thought the Washington Post headline this morning said it really pretty well. The Washington Post headline was a day that made today possible. And that really says it all, because it was June 6, 1944, that made today possible. And everything mankind has achieved in the last 75 years, imperfect, flawed, still have a lot of problems. But you think of the last 75 years what is not just what has happened and the advances in every discipline of mankind, science, food production, technology, made people's lives better, more people free, more people with hope, more people with education. But you think also of what didn't happen in the last 75 years, no World War III. We take that for granted today, but you all know the great leaders at the time all went to their graves very concerned that there would be a World War III and there'd be a nuclear exchange. We've had no nuclear exchange. That doesn't mean we can't have one or won't. But just those two facts are pretty important. In today's world of so much division and polarization, I also think of what happened 75 years ago. The world, most of the world, the free world at the time, certainly our European allies and others, had a clear purpose for what we did 75 years ago. It was a clear purpose of common interest. And that produced a world that was something that we Americans, all nationalists had never seen before. A liberal world order. A world order that was made up of institutions, what I referred to as coalitions of common interest that brought people together based on a common interest. Not that we would fix every problem, solve every problem, but we would start with our common interests as human beings and dignity and respect and freedom. That's where we'd start. And these world institutions were there to assure that as much as possible. Sure there was tyranny, authoritarianism, communism, but in order to deal with the realities at the time and put a totally destroyed world back together because America had the only economy that was still on its feet. These great leaders after World War II built this liberal world order. United Nations being the first institution. Imperfect, flawed. But think of the United Nations if we'd not had the United Nations the last 70 years. Think the world would be better? More peaceful? I don't think so. NATO, IMF, World Bank, dozens of multilateral banks and development institutions all with the purpose of trying to make a better world, give more people more opportunities, more freedoms, working together, not dividing each other. And that's probably as much as any part of today as we look back on this day 75 years ago that struck me is in this polarized, divisive world where there's so much volatility, combustibility, uncertainty out of all of that World War II, certainly D-Day, came a world order that gave man real hope for the first time. And it's worked pretty well. And it's worked pretty well. General Agreement on tariffs and trade, which is now the WTO, based on free trade, based on all people rising, economies developing, selling your product. I mean, for example, trade is not just trade, it's not just a commercial exchange of goods and services, it's far more than that. It's foreign policy, it's security, it's people to people. It goes much deeper than just trying to sell an automobile or soybeans, much deeper. That's what I take away as much as anything else from the review of what happened 75 years ago. I've always thought that what happened 75 years ago in Operation Overlord might simply be outlined in three different areas. One was the enormity of the task. I mean, you all know the numbers on this. As David said, it was the largest amphibious military operation ever in the history of mankind. Over 13,000 aircraft were involved, almost 7,000 ships and Navy vessels involved. That day from England, we moved 176,000 men, put 155,000 ashore. That was an astounding, astonishment task and achievement that man had never known before. The second part of that, what happened on June 6, 1944, the second after the task was the risk, tremendous risk, tremendous risk. You go back, as you all know, because some of you are historians and know far more than I do about this. There was great doubt, there was great concern whether this could work. We were fortunate that the Germans made some pretty big mistakes. In their calculations. But that takes nothing away from the planning and certainly the courage and the commitment of the men and women who carried this mission out and had worked and planned and proceeded and cooperated to accomplish it. And the third part of this, which is always struck me is leadership. Leadership, not just one person. Yes, we think of Eisenhower of course and Churchill and Roosevelt and Bradley and others. But leadership I've always believed is as much about team building and bringing the people together for a common purpose, a common cause and accomplishing a common mission. That's leadership because no one is smart enough, good enough to do it himself or herself. It doesn't happen. But it's bringing all the people together in an effort and a team and believing in that effort and believing in that commitment and believing in that task. And those great leaders did that. And that was real leadership. And you all, I know I've heard some are very familiar with it. The actual note is housed here in the archives that Eisenhower wrote to himself that and put in his pocket of the day of the invasion. I've read that, that small note many, many times over many years. I was always so impressed with it that when I first got to the Senate in 1997, I had it calligraphy, matted and framed and it hung in my Senate conference room for 12 years. And then it hung in my Secretary of Defense office the time I served as Secretary of Defense. Because it epitomized leadership, I thought, as eloquently as anything I know. And I want to read it to you. It's very short. I know many of you are familiar with it. But it helps us all when we hear these words of this great leader who wrote this note for history in case this effort would fail. And this is what Eisenhower wrote. Our landings at Therborg and Harvara have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold. And I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based upon the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches the effort, it is mine and mine alone. Now that's leadership. That's leadership. An interesting side note about that note, which many of you may be familiar with, he signed it July 6th. That might give us some indication of how much pressure Eisenhower was under. He was off just by one month. But it tells us a lot about Eisenhower, of course. And it tells us a lot about the leadership of that man, but also those he chose to be around him and how all of that leadership came together. Now, one other fun little anecdote I want to share. Many of you might know this, but I haven't found many who do. And I was with former Secretary of State Madeline Albright last week at a joint appearance at the University of Chicago. And we were talking about D-Day. Now Madeline Albright is a pretty learned individual. Ph.D., teaches at Georgetown, has been a teacher for many, many years, knows history, all the jobs that she's had. And she asked me, she said, well, you're from Nebraska and you know Omaha. Why was designated the two beaches where Americans would land Omaha and Utah? And many of you may know that answer, but Secretary Albright didn't know the answer. And I said, well, I'm glad you asked. That's the only answer I have that you probably don't know. Well, the reason those two names were chosen for those two beaches was because when they were deciding where and how they were going to invade and the location, in General Bradley's office, there were two carpenters. One was from Utah and one from Omaha. And Bradley thought, sure as hell, that'll throw the Germans off. And I guess it did. But that's kind of a fun little antidote about how those two names were established for those two beaches. On Juno and Gold and Sword, I don't know. You'll have to go somewhere else for that. But those were British and Canadian, so maybe they'll know. Well, I want to close by telling you that like everyone in this room, my personal stories and how I grew up always reflected and revolved around D-Day and around World War II. And it's a very, very important, as David and I were just talking, it's so important and so heartening to see the world today in this country recognize the critical, critical importance of this date and what was accomplished 75 years ago. We haven't forgotten it. And we need to make sure that our young people and generations that will come do not, do not ever forget what was accomplished and why it was accomplished and what it produced. My father was a World War II veteran. He was not in Europe. He was in the South Pacific. He was a radio operator tail gunner on a B-25 bomber and over in South Pacific for a little more than two years. But I had three uncles in Europe, none on D-Day, but all of them saw a lot of action. So I grew up in little towns in Nebraska where the American Legion and VFW Clubs were the social center of the little towns. I mean, nothing happened. Nobody got married, nobody got buried or anything unless it was through the Legion or the VFW. And so I guess I didn't know any better. And I had an advantage in life, really, in a way because that whole environment imbued me with history and with an appreciation of our country, of our people, of the sacrifices, of really what kind of people we are and how many good people there are in the world. And it just takes some leadership. I think another example here is when America pulls back, the world becomes dangerously off balance. We can't fix every problem and we surely can't do it alone. We need alliances. We need allies. We need friends. More today, I think than any time in our history. But America does have a role in the world. And it's morally very clear what our role is ethically. But in every way, we have a role to lead. And it isn't just us, but it's clearly in our self-interest, clearly in our self-interest. Every one of those institutions I mentioned, starting with NATO, clearly in America's interest and in our future. So I will end this way so you can enjoy a great documentary. Thank you again for giving me a privilege to be here tonight, share some thoughts with you and to our veterans and their families and all who make so many contributions to this country. We're a better country for it. Thank you. Thank you.