Feb, 2007 I was privileged to spend 2 days in Normandie and surrounding towns. Definitely was not enough time. I don't care what your political leanings are, when standing in the midst of all those graves at Colleville-sur-Mer, you can't help but be moved by the sacrifice of all the "young" people from several different countries.

The statistics vary, depending on your source, but using Cornelius Ryan's "The Longest Day", the US KIA's (1465) and MIA's (1928) for the 24 hrs of D-day; a total of 3393 Americans that lost their lives. Do the math: for 24 hours, 141 died every hour.

I have many items in my collection from various countries & wars, and I do enjoy having them, but they are just tools. The really important & valuable thing, is/ was the the people who used those to safeguard our liberty, and the unselfish price that they all paid for us.