Watch President Donald Trump hugging the veteran:
Video Credit: DailyMail
President Donald Trump hugged a 94-year-old veteran who stormed Omaha Beach in Normandy during the Second World War at the age of 19 at the D-day ceremony in Normandy.
The President hugged former Private Russell Pickett – the last known survivor of Company A – and called him a ‘tough guy’ at the American cemetery of Colleville-Sur-Mer in Normandy, France.
Trump said at the D-day ceremony: “Russell Pickett is the last known survivor of the legendary company A.
Today, believe it or not, he has returned once more to these shores to be with his comrades. Private Pickett, you honor us all with your presence”.
Pickett stormed the beaches of Normandy during the Second World War when he was just 19.
The mission is known as D-Day’s ‘suicide wave’.
In 2016, Pickett told local ABC news station: “A company was 96 percent casualty within the first 30-45 minutes. They) figured half of them dead. The other half of the casualties wounded which I was one of the casualties.”
Pickett said he was on a Higgins boat and ‘tried to get up and my legs wouldn’t work. I wasn’t hurting anywhere, scared to death of course which that might have been what was wrong with me’.
He was then pulled out of the water by a nearby boat.
Trump, who rarely makes a display of emotion in public, hugged the veteran and praised him.
Recommended Video!
“8-Year-Old Boy Waited Patiently For Trump’s Attention Gets A Kiss On The Head”