 Manila, general officers and other distinguished visitors, veterans and service members of the Allied Nations of World War II and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization of today. Friends of the 101st Airborne Division, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us here on this sacred ground this afternoon and thank you for the enduring warm welcome here in France. Carinthon is not the only crucible location in the history of my beloved 502nd Energy Regiment and the 2nd Brigade Combat Team strike, but also for the entire 101st Airborne Division Air Assault. It is foundational to our legacy of heroism and valor. Carinthon is where we gained our first Pantheon of Heroes with leaders like Lieutenant Colonel Robert Cole and the bayonet charge of the 3rd Battalion 502nd compared to the Energy Regiment across the causeway. Carinthon is where we first learned that vanquishing our enemies in close combat requires highly trained, well-led, disciplined and fit formations. Carinthon is where we first learned the cost of freedom. So we stand here in Carinthon today and across Normandy this week and remember it's not only of our past but mindful of our present. Because it was for places like this and for people like those gathered here today that the paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division fought and died some 79 years ago. And it is for places like this and for people like those gathered here today that the soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division Air Assault returned to Europe last summer. Our deployment to NATO's Eastern flank was the first time that the 101st Airborne Division had returned to Europe as a fighting formation since World War II. While we did not return to Europe to fight, we were ready to fight. We were ready to fight alongside the French, Czech, Swords, and Romania and German, Gabyrcakers, and Slovakia. We were ready to fight alongside the rest of our NATO allies and partners spread across that vital frontier of freedom. While we represented just a small contingent of the American Army that returned to Europe, we all knew our mission was to defend a very peace. Our World War II forebathers worked so hard to secure during the battles we commemorate in Normandy here this week. We were proud to serve again in Europe and we were proud of our history here in Europe, both past and present. It is a history that only becomes apparent during commemorations like this. We soldiers all know the names of our heroes, say our four colonels of Carinthon, Mikolas, Johnson, Sink, Harper. We soldiers all know the ferocious battles along Purpleheart Lane or in the Bloody Gulch. We soldiers all know the names of the proud screening of World War II veterans and friends we've lost in the past year. Staff Sergeant Tom Rice, 501st Parish U.S. Regiment aged 101, Sergeant Dan McBride, 502nd Parish U.S. Regiment aged 97, and P.S.C. Peewee Martin, 506th Parish U.S. Regiment aged 101. Yet while we know our history and see names from across the Normandy countryside back at our home base at Fort Campbell, Kentucky every day, they remain just a name until we spend time in a place like this. Back home I live in a neighborhood called Cole Park. We start a morning physical training session with a run-along hedgerow or glider road. We climb aboard our helicopters at Johnson Field and later disembark deep in the training area to attack Cassidy Village. I'm excited to have our soldiers here today connect these names to these most meaningful places in our shared Carrington history, and I'm excited our soldiers will have a chance to further bond with the people of Carrington. Thank you for remembering our heroes, thank you for the friendships that span the ages, and thank you for allowing us to join you here today.