God Bless you Greg! I could fill Randy's servers with my feelings on this. I thought I'd save some space for you guys! LOL
Perhaps if you folks in first could find a vet to trade out with it would be soooooo cool.
My grandmother was sooo proud of her 2 boys. My uncle who as mentioned landed on Omaha got wounded there, ended up in Patton's Third Army Corps, 90th Infantry Division which served in the Battle of the Bulge, moving on to liberate some of the death camps. And my Dad who was 17 in 1945 enlisted the first business day after his birthday July 3rd. He trained for the invasion of Japan in the 426th Ordnance Training battallion. He was shipped to Yokohama as part of the Army of Occupation. He contracted Rhuematic Fever and subsequesntly succembed to the disease when I was 13 in 1968.
What made them "Special"??? Not a thing! just 2 of millions of citizen soldiers. I saw my dads picture when he graduated from artillery school and he was so young! He was just a boy, like so many others in the photo. I often wonder what my uncle thought as he stood in that Higgins Boat under enemy fire on June 6th. As he lay there on the beach a Nazi bullet through his right shoulder. I remember him telling me about how he didn't eat for several days when they liberated the camps. He gave his rations to the victims.
There are son many stories out there. Take the time to listen.