escaped, and when D-Day came around, he
was in hiding behind enemy lines. As a par-
ticipant, he had good reasons for not want-
ing to return. As spectators, maybe we are
the ones who need reminders of our history.
But while his story is a part of it, it's more
my own children I think of when I look out
to the sea from Omaha Beach, for every one
of these men was the most import-
ant person in the world to someone.
Each was somebody's child. And
while they could see what was hap-
pening to the men landing ahead of
them, as they were machine-gunned
to death before they could even get
out of their boats, or blown up on the
