国际英语新闻：Obama pays homage to heroes of D-Day in Normandy

PARIS, June 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday joined French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper at a grand ceremony on the beaches of Normandy to mark the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landing by the Allied forces in World War II.

    In a speech to some 9,000 guests and 200 U.S. D-Day veterans, Obama paid homage to the heroes of D-Day, saying the Allied troops offered inspiration for the "hardships and struggles of our time."  

U.S. first lady Michelle Obama (L) walks with French first lady Carla Bruni Sarkozy during a ceremony at The Prefecture in France, June 6, 2009.

"Friends and veterans, we cannot forget ... that D-Day was a time and a place where the bravery and selflessness of a few was able to change the course of an entire century," said the president.

    Obama and his wife Michelle, accompanied by Sarkozy and French First Lady Carla Bruni, went to the American war cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, where 9,387 American soldiers were buried. The cemetery overlooks the Omaha Beach, where Allied troops opened a new western front against Nazi Germany with the successful invasion of occupied France.

    British Prime Minister Brown, Prince Charles and Canadian Prime Minister Harper joined them at the cemetery.

    Obama would spend Saturday night in Paris and is due to fly back to the United States on Sunday.

U.S. President Barack Obama (front R) and France's President Nicolas Sarkozy (front L) wave as they arrive at the Prefecture of Caen in France, June 6, 2009