The US and Soviet Soldiers story related to Normandy?

Question

This is from President Obama’s speech, and I have no idea what it means. It seems like a historical story, but I could not find anything on Google. Why did he think of it when he visited Normandy? And could you please explain the story of men from Boston and the Soviet soldiers? Please help me. > To begin with, let me be clear: America wants a strong, peaceful, and prosperous Russia. This belief is rooted in our respect for the Russian people, and a shared history between our nations that goes beyond competition. Despite our past rivalry, our people were allies in the greatest struggle of the last century. **Recently, I noted this when I was in Normandy -- for just as men from Boston and Birmingham risked all that they had to storm those beaches and scale those cliffs, Soviet soldiers from places like Kazan and Kiev endured unimaginable hardships to repeal -- to repel an invasion, and turn the tide in the east.** As President John Kennedy said, "No nation in history of battle ever suffered more than the Soviet Union in the Second World War."

Answer 1

President Obama thought of it during his visit to Normandy, because Russians were conspicuous by their absence in the D-Day Normandy combat activities, and yet they had the highest casualties of the war. President Obama was just trying to politically balance the memories and adulation given at Normandy to the Greatest Generation against the easily forgotten fact that the Russians were also attacking from the east on that very same day and slogging their way through Poland on the final march to Berlin. It was the correct thing to mention, otherwise newer generations tend to take away distorted and incomplete versions of history, without knowing or understanding the bigger picture. It was also a gentle reminder to Vladimir Putin that the U.S. and Russia can and should continue working together.

Answer 2

Don't panic! You are simply reading too much into it! President Obama was merely using alliteration to create cadence in his speech. He didn't mean the war was carried out solely by soldiers from Kiev and Boston (okay, and Birmingham plus Kazan). He was simply saying that Americans and Russians fought for the same cause, albeit it in different places. The Americans landed in Normandy (among other places) while the Russians defended themselves against an invasion by the Germans, despite an earlier non-aggression pact between the two.