Susan Davis: “Last week, on June 6, I had the honor of attending the 70th anniversary of the D-day invasion in France. What a humbling…”

“Last week, on June 6, I had the honor of attending the 70th anniversary of the D-day invasion in France. What a humbling experience it was to be there. Countless graves marked the landscape where over 6,000 U.S. soldiers fought and died at the site of one of the most significant military operations in modern history. Looking back, it is incredible--incredible that an operation as vast and as complex as the Allied invasion of Normandy could ever succeed. Just about everything that could go wrong did. We faced setbacks at every turn, yet against all odds, our brave young men persevered. Speaking with D-day veterans from San Diego like Jack Port, Joe Reilly, Victor Kramer, and James Federhart, I was reminded that they were just kids in 1944, many of them still teenagers. I wish I could have shared it with my dad who served as a medic throughout the war, but like so many of his brothers in arms, he did not speak about his experience, and it is not hard to imagine why. Many of their comrades never made it home. Thousands of U.S. soldiers fought and died, so that the world might live in freedom and inherit peace. ____________________”