Eighty years ago today. I am so much in awe of the men and women of the greatest generation and their sacrifices. My dad and uncle both fought in WW2 and rarely talked about it.

 A look back at D-Day: Why the World War II invasion remains important on its 80th anniversary (msn.com) 

My Grandfather (deceased in 2006) also fought in WW2.  He was not a part of Normandy itself but later he liberated Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany.  Rarely talked about it.  He did show me some items he took from a German soldier though: a sword, a watch, and a compass.  They all had swastikas on them.

My father was in the Army Air Corps in WW2. Rarely spoke of it, when he did it was only about his buddies. 

 

What really got me was on the live coverage of the ceremonies this morning. These brave men, most seemed to be wheelchair bound, stood to receive their honors from French President Macron and from Joe Biden. It was obviously a struggle for most to stand, but they did. Every one of them a hero. God bless them all.

Let's not forget the Battle of Midway also in June on the 4th to the 7th of 1942. I worked with a guy a long time age who was on one of the carriers as a radioman. They were all scared he said. Who could blame them. It's a heroic undertaking now that it's over, but then the outcome was up in the air.

My wife and I are going to Paris in mid-September. I have always wanted to stand on Omaha Beach. I am going to do so. 
 

I have stood in Bloody Lane in Antietam and at various locations in Gettysburg, and they are places of awe. But I cannot imagine how I will feel standing on that beach. The Civil War was a long time ago and by the time I was born in 1960, the oldest veteran had been dead for 4 years. WW II has been over for 79 years yet still seems like a modern conflict. I’m sure I will be humbled.