Actor Sam Elliott with a D-Day Speech to Remember: The True Story of an American Hero

Academy Award-nominated actor Sam Elliott's D-Day speech on PBS tells the inspiring true story of WWII veteran Sgt. Ray Lambert. And Sam's iconic voice lent itself perfectly to the powerful retelling of how the war hero survived that fateful day.

On June 6, 1944, some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on the beaches of Normandy, initiating what would be considered the beginning of the end of World War II.

That infamous date is remembered as D-Day.

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"It was total confusion. Shells exploding, boats blowing up, people yelling because they couldn't hear anything, machine gun bullets hitting the water all around you, the roar of the boats coming in. It's like you're all alone in the world of a million people because you're concentrating on what you have to do,” read actor Sam Elliott in his D-Day speech.

"I just kept going. I was thinking of only one thing -- getting to the men who needed me," Sam continued. "You did the job you were trained to do. If you didn't, you died."

True Story Honoring Veterans

Towards the end of the story, Sam closed with Sgt. Lambert’s words about the men who lost their lives that day.

"People who have never been in a war should understand what soldiers give up. The guys we left on Omaha Beach never had a chance to live the lives they dreamed of. A day hasn't gone by when I haven't prayed for the men we lost and their families. I still wake up at night sometimes thinking about the guys. Every man that walked into those machine guns and that artillery fire on Omaha Beach that day -- every man -- was a hero. What kind of person would I be if I didn't tell their stories?"

What an incredible, moving story. Sam Elliott walked up to Sgt. Lambert after he left the stage to shake his hand. "It's such an honor to tell your story," Sam told the American hero.

May we always honor our veterans and remember the sacrifices they all made for each of our freedoms.

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John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.”

WATCH: Sam Elliott D-Day Speech Tells Story Of Veteran, Sgt Ray Lambert's

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