a bunch of very scared, seasick and incredibly brave men from America, Canada, England, and other Allied countries went ashore off the Normandy coast to assault Hitler's Fortress Europe ... we owe them so much.
We forget, too, that these guys weren't John Wayne; many were kids, although they left their youth behind forever.
I think it should be a prerequisite to graduate high school, get a drivers license, become a citizen or for anyone just whining to watch the first 15 minutes of "Saving Private Ryan". Can you just imagine the doors dropping on those Higgins boats knowing what you where about to face? Those guys were the greatest generation for a reason.
Most never talked about it. My Dad graduated high school a few days after D-Day and immediately entered the Navy. His older brother was among those who landed in Normandy that day and survived. We never heard stories about the war until the final couple weeks of his life. He just wouldn't talk about it. Neither would my uncle.
Many years ago, one of my sons had a school assignment to interview a grandparent. One of the questions was the old standard, what did you dream about doing after high school? My Dad's reply shocked us. He said he had no dreams. He went on to explain that he knew he would be going to war, that he did not expect to come home, and that most of the boys in his high school had the same expectation. Just think about going through your teenage years with that in the back of your mind.
Most are gone now; even the youngest are now in their early 90s, but the sacrifice they made must never be forgotten