From The Wall Street Journal:
Pvt. Jack Port thought he was fighting the war to end all wars when he stormed Utah Beach on June 6, 1944. Seventy-five years later he sees a world again in conflict.
Pvt. Port was part of the biggest amphibious invasion in history. It laid the foundations of the trans-Atlantic alliance that has underpinned decades of trade and security ties across the West.
That world order is under strain as President Trump and other world leaders gather in Normandy on Thursday to mark the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landing. From Mr. Trump to President Vladimir Putin of Russia and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, leaders around the world are prioritizing domestic interests over international cooperation and marginalizing bodies created to referee disputes among great powers, from the United Nations to the World Trade Organization.
“I’m very disappointed, and I hate leaving the world feeling this way,” said Mr. Port, now 97 years old.
This year only a few dozen American D-Day veterans are returning to Normandy, said Scott Desjardins, superintendent of the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, which honors American troops who died in Europe during World War II. The average age of D-Day veterans returning to Normandy this year is 96. Less than 4% of World War II veterans are still alive, and few can muster the strength to travel.
. . . .
President Trump read an excerpt from the prayer that President Franklin Roosevelt delivered by radio on June 6, 1944.
Queen Elizabeth II told the audience when she attended the 60th anniversary of D-Day, many believed it would be the last such commemoration.“But the wartime generation—my generation—is resilient,” declared the 93-year-old queen.
. . . .
Pvt. Port, then 22, had just completed 12 weeks of training camp in California, where he grew up. At home, guns weren’t allowed.
“They took me as a punk high school kid, and converted me into a combat soldier,” said Mr. Port.
He had no idea where he was headed. He had heard about Hitler but wasn’t really interested in politics.
. . . .
“At the time I was just a kid. I wanted to chase girls,” he said.
. . . .
British Sgt. John Rushton, now 95, was one of the first men to reach Sword Beach on D-Day, arriving early in the morning on a landing craft carrying tanks and ammunition. As soon as the tanks got off the landing craft, they started sinking in the sand and the tracks came off.
“That was the end of it,” said Sgt. Rushton. But the troops salvaged the ammunition and delivered it into battle. Sgt. Rushton tries to return every year to visit the grave of a British comrade who didn’t make it.
. . . .
“I didn’t want any medals, I just wanted to survive,” Mr. Hurd said.
Link to the rest at The Wall Street Journal (Sorry if you encounter a paywall)