Writing about Harry Catchpole brought back my memory of another soldier who was on Omaha Beach on D-Day.
When I met this other elderly Maryland gentleman he told me he had just returned from a trip to France and a visit to an American Military Cemetery in Normandy.
"I have been there before. I go as often as I can because I have so many friends who are buried there and
whenever our Army group gathers in Normandy- I go.
I will never forget the morning of June 6, 1944. We came across the water in the dark and as it got lighter we came closer to France - to the shore. The front of the landing boat dropped down and we ran into the cold waves hoping to reach the beach.
So many of us never touched land again."
He drew in a deep breath - his eyes filled with tears.
"They stayed behind - but I came home.
I have had a family, a good job and a fine life.
They missed all of that."
He was quiet. Then he wiped tears off his cheeks.
"I have never forgotten any of those boys -
I come back to thank them."
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