71 years ago now, the beaches of Normandy, France were the site for an attack known as D-Day. The Allied Forces raided the beaches that were controlled by the German Nazi regime. 425,000 Allied and German people casualties occurred there. Today, these beaches are calm and serene, a somber reminder of the blood that once stained the golden brown sand. Many people come to visit these beaches every year. Veterans returning to where the spent the worst days of their lives to honor a friend they lost, children whose parents were taken from them by the cold hands of war, and people who lost the love of their life on a mission to ensure freedom for everyone. Tourists migrate here to pay homage to us, they don’t even know us, and yet they are grateful for us. Some even say we are still here, as though we never left the battle that led to …show more content…
Today should have been my 93rd birthday, but I never got the chance to live a full life. The war took that away from me. I had a wife, Annie. We had only just gotten married when I was sent here to an unwilling fate. I have seen so many people come to visit the memorials and walk along the beaches in honor of us fallen soldiers, but never her. The other men have seen their loved ones again unbeknownst to the living. Not me, I have been wandering these beaches alone for all of this time. All I have known for these years is emptiness; expected for a dead person, but painful nonetheless. I am walking along the beach as I have done for most of my time in this state, when I see someone. I don’t know why, but I feel drawn to them. An urge to be close to them, to hold them. I think it might be just some random young man. As I draw closer to him, I look into his face once more, hoping to recognize him in some way when I realize, he looks just like I did. He is silent, pensive even. I feel a strange connection to him. I decide to walk with him. The man starts tearing up, a lone tear slides down his face. Why is he