Today is the 79th anniversary of remembering and honoring the heroics of so many brave men and women.
D-Day was the name given to the June 6, 1944, invasion of the beaches at Normandy in northern France by troops from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and other countries during World War II.
D-Day veteran Frank DeVita says he’ll never forget how tough it was to be the man in charge of dropping the ramp as his landing craft approached Omaha Beach. “This was our shield as long as it was up. And as we approached the shoreline where the water hits the sand, and the machine guns were hitting the front of the boat—it was like a typewriter,” DeVita, who was barely 19 on June 6, 1944, remembers.
When he was ordered to drop the ramp, he paused. “I figured in my mind when I drop that damn ramp, the bullets that are hitting the ramp are going to come into the boat. So I froze.”But then the coxswain again yelled at me to lower the ramp, and I followed the order. “I dropped the ramp,” he said. “And the first 7, 8, 9, 10 guys went down like you were cutting down wheat…They were kids.”
So today, we take a moment to “Always Remember; Never Forget” their sacrifices.