06/06/2026
Today marks the 82nd anniversary of D-Day (June 6, 1944) when the Greatest Generation launched the largest amphibious assault in history and turned the tide against tyranny in World War II.
As a Marine combat veteran who served in Iraq with 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division during Operation Iraqi Freedom, I stand in awe of the courage displayed by those young Americans on the beaches of Normandy. Many were barely out of high school, yet they stormed into hellfire with unrelenting resolve. They liberated a continent, defeated fascism, and came home to build the America we know today.
Their sacrifice reminds us that freedom isn’t free; it was purchased with blood on those Normandy shores, in the hedgerows, and across the Pacific. We owe them a debt we can never fully repay, but we can honor it by living with the same courage, humility, and love of country they showed us.
To every veteran of that generation still with us, and to the families of those who never made it home: Thank you. Your legacy lives on in every service member who followed in your footsteps, and in every American who cherishes the liberties you defended.