WWII veterans speak of sacrifice and freedom on France's D-Day battlefields, 81 years later

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The D-Day generation, smaller in number than ever, is back on the beaches of France where so much blood was spilled 81 years ago. World War II veterans, now mostly centenarians, have returned with the same message they fought for then: Freedom is worth defending.

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00:00Henry, we're here to honor you. We're here to remember you and your sacrifice on that early

00:10spring day when you felt the weight and the anger of the group of ME109s and they got you.

00:20But you will never forget your cost and your sacrifice. Well, I think it's important just

00:26to remember. You know, in the United States, the students of the AGC here know virtually nothing

00:34about World War II because most veterans from World War II came home, they didn't want to talk about the

00:40war. So they didn't pass those experiences on to their children and grandchildren. It's only

00:46been in recent years have the children just acquired a taste of what really happened in World War II.

00:53They didn't get the honors that we who have lived and gone on and raised families. They had no families.

01:09So they look forward to us coming. Over 9,000 a year. Can you imagine that? Given for our freedom,

01:20we should never forget it. So that's why these days are so important to us and you too.

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