[andysandmikesmom]

My husbands father was one of the first to land on Normandy...almost everyone in his unit was killed or died later from their injuries there...he, tho only slightly physically wounded, could not cope with seeing all that he saw and experienced that day...when he was finally found, he was clearly not in his right mind, and was sent back to the states, where he spent the next 7 yrs of his life, in a military hospital, trying to treat his mental problem...

He never fully recovered...he was able to leave the hospital, get a job, and become a self supporting man...but his wife left him, and ran off with another man...she even left their small baby(my husband) behind...my husband wound up being raised by his dads parents...

For the rest of his life, he was haunted by his experiences at Normandy, on that day....some might say he was weak to succumb mentally, but there you have it...often he said, his life was such a living hell, always reliving what had happened that day, that it would have been better for him, if he had died there on the beach that day...

So for some, altho Normandy has been over for so many years, for others, its as real as if it had happened yesterday....

My husband and I presented this man with his first grandson, who ironically was born on June 6th....we always called him the D-Day kid...

My husbands father died a few years ago, and in a way, his death, tho sad, brought a small bit of solace to my husband, to realize that his dad finally find some bit of peace, that he had been looking for so many years...

[Mr. Silverback]

Thank you. That was moving. My grandfather and one of his brothers both spent time in mental hospitals after some terrible duty in the Pacific. My grandad fought in at least one hand-to-hand night action with the Japanese. It's a wonder they weren't all crazy when they came home.

[baseballmom]

I stood there. At Pointe de Hoc. And on the bluff overlooking Omaha Beach. I walked that beach. Just being there, seeing it, was overwhelming. I couldn't have done what these boys did. I was so overcome with a feeling of -what, - helplessness, cowardice, terror - that I couldn't believe it. To see those gun emplacements - they were huge!! Oh, God have mercy on those that fought that day - and bless them all. What they did is unbelievable - the bravery, the sheer audacity of storming those cliffs and beaches was courage that we will never know. Thank God for our fathers.