Mr. Prime Minister, Hillary and I are delighted to be here. I remember well the first time I arrived in the United Kingdom. I am deeply honored to be here today representing my nation.
Fifty years ago, our two nations joined forces on the beaches of Normandy to turn back the Nazi armies that had overrun Europe. This week I have come across the Atlantic to commemorate D-Day and the many other battles of the Second World War and to honor the sacrifices borne by the war generation in all the nations.
Freedom continues to require our sacrifice and persistence. And I would like to say, on behalf of all the American people, how very sorry we are and how we offer our condolences to the loved ones of those who died in the tragic RAF helicopter accident on Thursday.
Freedom continues to require effort. When he visited the United States after World War II, Winston Churchill spoke of our two nations' role in forging the post-war world. He urged the United States and Britain to walk together in majesty and peace. For he said, "It is in the years of peace that wars are prevented and that those foundations are laid upon which the noble structures of the future can be built."
I look forward to working with the Prime Minister and the British people as we work together to meet those challenges. The Prime Minister has already mentioned the many things that we will be discussing today. I am glad to be back in Great Britain, glad to be honoring the sacrifices and the triumphs of the World War II generation, glad to be about the work of honoring what they have done for us by trying to preserve the peace and the future.
Thank you very much.
NOTE: The President spoke at 9:48 a.m. at the Royal Air Force station, Mildenhall.
William J. Clinton, Remarks on Arrival in the United Kingdom Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/219217