The beaches of Normandy were full of gun fire, scared soldiers, artillery, and blood on this morning 61 years ago. Operation Overlord began the night before on June 5th with special forces, paratroopers, and glider troops being dropped behind enemy lines to disrupt the German reinforcement of the beachheads.

The invasion was a huge success and the western front that Stalin had so desperately wanted was finally open.

As we slowly lose the veterans of World War II it is hard for us to understand the horrors that they faced that morning running through knee high water straight into enemy gunfire. To put it into perspective, the average age of a soldier on D-Day was 19. They would be 80 today. The average lifespan of an American is hovering around 76-78.

We are slowly losing what some have called the “greatest generation”.