NBC Nightly News - 2004-06-06 - 3 of 3

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[1:53] Dine Sunday. One of the greatest untold

[1:56] stories of D-Day. 60 years ago, three

[1:59] paratroopers jumped into enemy territory

[2:02] and the people they encountered changed

[2:04] them forever. Tom Brokhall with an

[2:06] emotional reunion. Plus, remembering

[2:08] Ronald Reagan, a special D-Day Dine

[2:11] Tonight, NBC 76 Central. Tomorrow on

[2:14] Today, remembering Ronald Reagan, a

[2:17] legend from Hollywood to the White

[2:18] House, a special look back at his

[2:20] extraordinary life. Only on Today on

[2:22] NBC.

[2:25] >> They were Hollywood stars whose own

[2:27] story was something right out of the

[2:29] movies. As their lives played out on the

[2:31] world stage as the president and first

[2:33] lady, Ronald and Nancy Reagan were very

[2:36] public about their love and commitment

[2:38] to each other. Here's NBC's George Lewis

[2:40] on the difficult final days.

[2:43] >> No Hollywood screenwriter could have

[2:45] penned a better love story. I was the

[2:47] happiest girl in the world when I became

[2:50] weird.

[2:51] >> They were both movie actors when they

[2:53] met. Their first on-screen appearance

[2:55] together in Hellcats of the Navy.

[2:58] >> How do you know so much about the moon?

[3:00] >> I know a lot about it. Spend all my time

[3:03] looking at it when you're away.

[3:05] >> She gave up her film career after she

[3:07] became Mrs. Reagan.

[3:10] >> No, I never wanted to continue being an

[3:12] actress after I got married. Ever.

[3:16] ever. No. I I I'd seen too many

[3:19] marriages

[3:21] uh break up and I I didn't want to take

[3:24] that chance.

[3:26] >> Sometimes they seemed so wrapped up in

[3:28] each other they didn't pay much

[3:29] attention to their children. Daughter

[3:31] Patty once described the family as

[3:33] dysfunctional. Although the Reagan

[3:36] children later reconciled with their

[3:37] parents throughout most of their 52-year

[3:41] marriage, he wrote her love letters.

[3:43] What do you say about someone who gives

[3:45] your life meaning? What you say is that

[3:48] you love that person and treasure them.

[3:52] >> It seemed that nothing could come

[3:54] between them. Not even the attempt on

[3:56] his life in 1981.

[3:59] God

[4:00] >> until 10 years ago when Ronald Reagan

[4:03] told the world that he had Alzheimer's

[4:05] disease. Nancy Reagan last month.

[4:08] >> Ronnie's long journey has finally taken

[4:11] him to a distant place.

[4:15] where I can no longer reach him. We

[4:18] can't share the wonderful memories of

[4:20] our 52 years together.

[4:22] And I think that's probably the hardest

[4:24] part.

[4:25] >> 5 years ago, in an interview with Tom

[4:27] Bro, she talked about that lifelong

[4:30] romance.

[4:31] >> What would have happened to me if I

[4:32] hadn't married Ronnie?

[4:34] >> Oh, I think you probably would have got

[4:35] married. Okay.

[4:36] >> No. No, cuz there's never going to be

[4:39] another Ramy. George Lewis, NBC News,

[4:42] Los Angeles.

[4:45] >> Now, let's go back to Tom Brokoff for a

[4:47] final word from Normandy.

[4:49] >> Thanks, John. How poignantly ironic that

[4:52] Ronald Reagan died on a D-Day

[4:55] anniversary. It was 20 years ago on the

[4:56] 40th anniversary that he moved the world

[5:00] with his comments about the boys who

[5:02] swept ashore here and liberated Europe

[5:04] on June 6th, 1944. The boys of Ponta

[5:07] Hawk and all the others. And at his side

[5:10] on that 40th anniversary, his wife Nancy

[5:13] Reagan, who was always at his side in

[5:16] their public life and in their long

[5:18] years of marriage.

[5:20] The past few years have been difficult

[5:22] for Mrs. Reagan. Not at all what she

[5:25] expected in the closing years of their

[5:27] life together. But she never complained.

[5:31] Ronnie, as she called him, was always

[5:34] the love of her life, and she was at his

[5:37] side again when he died.

[5:41] That's Nightly News for this Sunday

[5:42] night. I'm Tom Brokaw in Normandy.

[5:44] Tonight on a special edition of Dline

[5:47] NBC, beginning at 7 Eastern time, a

[5:50] remarkable story from Normandy, followed

[5:52] by my extensive interview with President

[5:54] Bush. And then, of course, we'll have a

[5:56] very busy week ahead. I'm Tom Bro. I'll

[5:59] see you tomorrow night from New York.

[6:19] >> Tonight, an NBC News exclusive.

[6:22] >> We are at war and I see a danger for

[6:24] America. Tom Brokaw and President Bush.

[6:28] >> I hope America never forgets those

[6:30] who've sacrificed

[6:31] >> on America's war in Iraq and the loss of

[6:34] an American icon.

[6:35] >> He was a great president, Tom.

[6:37] >> Salutes to Ronald Reagan from around the

[6:40] world.

[6:41] >> Once he he asked, "May I tell you a

[6:43] Gorbachev joke?"

[6:44] >> Reagan-esque.

[6:46] >> And I said, "Of course."

[6:48] >> But first, a very special hour.

[6:55] Today, the world paid tribute to the

[6:57] tens of thousands of men who fought for

[6:59] freedom 60 years ago on D-Day.

[7:03] Tonight, we pay tribute to three for the

[7:06] deeply personal story of heroism and

[7:09] sacrifice.

[7:10] >> Absolutely one of the greatest untold

[7:12] stories from the Normandy invasion.

[7:14] >> American paratroopers lost behind enemy

[7:17] lines.

[7:18] >> I was dropped off the map altogether, so

[7:20] I don't know where I was. A small band

[7:23] of brothers outnumbered 10 to one.

[7:26] >> He stuck his head up and he got a bullet

[7:28] in the head.

[7:28] >> A sniper.

[7:29] >> Yeah.

[7:30] >> Their only chance of survival.

[7:32] Extraordinary acts of courage from

[7:34] perfect strangers in a town ready to

[7:37] risk everything to save them.

[7:40] >> Did your father ever say to you, "You

[7:42] could be in danger here?"

[7:44] >> No.

[7:45] >> Forming bonds then that live on today?

[7:49] Oh,

[7:51] >> tonight D-Day, a leap into history.

[7:55] Here now is Tom Brokoff.

[8:00] >> Good evening from the American Cemetery

[8:01] overlooking Omaha Beach. It was 60 years

[8:04] ago today that American, British, and

[8:07] Canadian forces stormed a shore here to

[8:10] liberate Europe. And it was 20 years ago

[8:13] today that the late Ronald Reagan gave

[8:15] one of the most memorable speeches of

[8:17] his presidency. He assured D-Day

[8:19] veterans that we will always remember,

[8:22] will always be proud, and will always be

[8:25] prepared so that we will always be free.

[8:28] In this special edition of Dine tonight,

[8:31] we too will remember Ronald Reagan. And

[8:34] I'll have an exclusive interview with

[8:36] President George W. Bush, who spoke here

[8:38] today. You know, I've been coming to

[8:40] Normandy for 20 years, and I thought I'd

[8:43] heard all the stories.

[8:45] But tonight, you'll see and hear the

[8:47] stories of a group of American

[8:49] paratroopers and French villagers who

[8:52] formed a bond in a time of great peril

[8:55] here 60 years ago, a bond that goes on

[8:59] to this day.

[9:01] There are differences between the United

[9:02] States and France now. But between these

[9:05] American paratroopers and those French

[9:07] villagers,

[9:09] there are no differences. For they know

[9:12] the high cost of freedom and the courage

[9:15] that it takes to remain free.

[9:24] This is the D-Day of news reels and

[9:26] history books. The massive amphibious

[9:29] landing,

[9:32] the heavy bombing,

[9:36] the intense shelling,

[9:38] the legendary invasion that changed the

[9:40] course of the greatest war ever fought.

[9:45] >> It's going to live for thousands of

[9:46] years is this flash point, this turning

[9:49] point. And the big turning point of it

[9:51] all was D-Day.

[9:53] >> But D-Day was something else as well. A

[9:55] battle won by thousands of individual

[9:57] acts of courage. A day of deeply

[10:00] personal stories unfolding within the

[10:02] great sweep of history. Stories such as

[10:05] this one.

[10:07] It takes place in a little French town.

[10:09] The war planners didn't even put on

[10:11] their maps. It is a story of American

[10:14] warriors and the people they came to

[10:15] liberate and how they formed a lifelong

[10:18] friendship through common courage,

[10:20] cunning, and sacrifice.

[10:22] It begins with three men, three among

[10:25] thousands of paratroopers who leaped

[10:26] into history on June 6th, 1944,

[10:30] 60 years ago today.

[10:32] >> Everybody knew that this was probably

[10:34] the greatest invasion in the history of

[10:36] the world. Morale was high and people

[10:39] were anxious to close with the enemy.

[10:43] >> Back then, Frank Nton was a 26-year-old

[10:46] lieutenant. Today, he looks every inch

[10:48] like the judge he became after the army.

[10:51] Ed Barnes was 24. 60 years later, he

[10:55] still proudly fits into his uniform.

[10:57] John Hinchliff, the youngster, was 22, a

[11:00] machine gunner. His cap proclaims him a

[11:03] member of the 82nd Airborne, the

[11:04] All-American Division. I

[11:06] >> think we done a darn good job. I

[11:09] wouldn't advise anybody to say

[11:10] otherwise.

[11:11] >> None of them set out to be a hero. John

[11:13] Hitchliff joined the army at age 16 to

[11:16] escape the Great Depression.

[11:17] >> And they came around asking for

[11:18] volunteers for the airborne. We didn't

[11:20] know what airborne was really.

[11:22] >> Frank Nton says he volunteered for

[11:24] airborne duty for the promise of

[11:26] adventure and better pay.

[11:28] >> We were getting $21 a month and that

[11:32] promised us an additional $50. I think

[11:35] that had a great deal to do with it.

[11:37] >> Ed Barnes was drafted in 1942. His first

[11:41] assignment was to be a bugler in the

[11:42] band.

[11:43] >> I wasn't going to join no band. I would

[11:47] rather be in combat. So that's when I

[11:49] volunteered for the airborne there.

[11:51] >> They were all assigned to the 507th

[11:54] Parachute Infantry activated in July of

[11:56] 1942. John Hinchliff vividly remembers

[12:00] the day that he showed up for airborne

[12:02] training.

[12:03] >> All of a sudden I see C47 coming along

[12:05] over on my right and I was watching it

[12:08] and all at once people started flying

[12:09] out the door of that thing. I guess I

[12:11] was a little bit startled

[12:14] realizing that that's what I was

[12:15] planning on doing. Hinchliff, like so

[12:18] many young paratroopers in training, had

[12:20] never even flown in an airplane before.

[12:23] Now he was preparing to jump out of one.

[12:28] Air travel was a novelty then, and the

[12:31] concept of dropping paratroopers behind

[12:33] enemy lines was just a few years old.

[12:36] The new paratroopers had to make things

[12:38] up as they went along. At one point,

[12:40] wearing football helmets because regular

[12:42] army helmets wouldn't stay on. That's

[12:44] Frank Nton himself, by the way.

[12:46] >> The American Army was being invented on

[12:48] the move in a sense.

[12:49] >> Yes, it was.

[12:50] >> What was it about the training that

[12:52] really impressed you that still lingers

[12:53] with you?

[12:54] >> Well, the the it was rigorous. It was

[12:57] was hard training, physical training. Uh

[13:01] but it was a challenge, you know.

[13:03] >> Two years of intense training and then

[13:06] their first real combat jump, one for

[13:08] the ages, D-Day.

[13:11] One doesn't want to even think about how

[13:14] grim the consequences of defeat in the

[13:16] Battle of Normandy would have been.

[13:18] >> Douglas Brinkley is a noted historian of

[13:20] World War II.

[13:22] >> It became clear that there was going to

[13:23] be a defining moment when the the whole

[13:25] thrust and industrial might of the

[13:27] United States was going to be brought

[13:29] not at the doorstep of of Europe but

[13:32] into Europe. And the question was would

[13:34] it be enough? Nton, Barnes, and

[13:36] Hitchcliffe would be part of the largest

[13:39] Aeron Sea invasion ever attempted.

[13:42] 170,000 men assaulting Hitler's Fortress

[13:44] Europe. The attack on Normandy, a winner

[13:47] take all gamble to break the Nazi

[13:49] stronghold. The paratroopers would jump

[13:52] before dawn. And they knew not everyone

[13:55] would come back.

[13:56] >> And you also feel you were young, well

[14:00] trained, that they're not going to get

[14:01] me.

[14:03] >> No. You thought you thought they might,

[14:05] right?