Today is June 6th. 75 years ago today, in the largest sea-borne invasion in history, some 150,000 young men from al walks of life from the United States, Great Britain, Canada, and other allied countries stormed the beaches of Normandy, France in an all-out effort to liberate oppressed people and bring an end to Adolf Hitler's "Fortress Europe" and the Nazi system of government. I dare say that every one of them was scared to the very core of his being, but they did their duty and pressed forward, eventually to victory almost a year later. We owe those young men, and so many who came after, a great debt of gratitude for their bravery and sacrifice. Others had already given that "last full measure of devotion" on the battlefields of the deserts in Africa, the jungles of the South Pacific islands, in the air, and on the high seas. People "back home" were also making tremendous sacrifices to provide the material necessary for sustaining and eventually winning such a great conflict. Not many of that "greatest generation" are left. According to one report there are fewer than 500,000 WWII veterans still alive today. Some of those veterans are very special to me, personally. My father was turned down for military service by the Navy due to a heart defect but he did his part for the war effort in a defense plant making parts for fighter planes. My step-father, Gene Reeves, was wounded fighting for freedom in the Allied invasion of Italy. Both these men have passed on to their eternal reward. A man I have come to admire, George Turner, is still living, although now in his 90s. He waded ashore in Normandy on June 7, 1944, and was wounded a couple of months later in the fighting around Mortine, France. When you meet some old geezer hobbling around on his walker or being wheeled around in his wheel chair and he is proudly wearing his "WWII Veteran" cap, thank him for your freedom. Without their efforts you would not have what you have today.