D-Day Veterans Who Landed on Normandy Remember Two Things: The Command "Away All Boats!" and the Lord's Prayer

The two things most veterans remember hearing over the transport ships' loudspeakers were the command "Away all boats!" followed by The Lord's Prayer. There were no atheists on D-Day.

More than six decades have fallen from the calendar since that stormy June morning in 1944 when the youth of the Allied nations made landfall on Normandy beaches codenamed Omaha, Utah, Gold, Juno, and Sword, and took the first steps in liberating Fortress Europe from Nazi Germany.

The night before, 37-year-old General James M. Gavin had told his 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers "When you land in Normandy you will have only one friend, God." The first thing many of them did a few hours later was kiss the dank French soil, and thank their Creator that they had made it. Many - far too many - of their buddies wouldn't.

High above the rocky coastline of Colleville-sur-Mer, amid meticulously kept gardens and healthy, groomed trees, rest 9,386 American war dead. Official records indicate 1,465 died during the first 24 hours of D-Day alone. Their final resting place is the Normandy American Military Cemetery. It overlooks the site of the greatest amphibious troop landing in history, Omaha Beach. It is practically impossible to walk among the rows and rows of white crosses and Stars of David without fighting a lump in your throat. No matter how many times you have visited.

An entire generation of brash, cocky young Americans matured as a nation during World War II and no single effort represents that spirit better than D-Day. Omaha, Utah, Pointe-du-Hoc, Ste.-Marie-du-Mont, Ste.-Mere-Eglise, Verville, and a score of other place names will find themselves overrun this summer by elderly Yanks who smile at children, say "Thank you" many more times than is necessary, and mispronounce French words so badly Napoleon probably spins in his Paris tomb at Les Invalides.