One Last Tour Of Normandy

From President Obama’s speech at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial:

I know this trip doesn’t get any easier as the years pass, but for those of you who make it, there’s nothing that could keep you away.  One such veteran, a man named Jim Norene, was a member of the 502nd Parachute Infantry Division of the 101st Airborne.  Last night, after visiting this cemetery for one last time, he passed away in his sleep.  Jim was gravely ill when he left his home, and he knew that he might not return.  But just as he did 65 years ago, he came anyway.  May he now rest in peace with the boys he once bled with, and may his family always find solace in the heroism he showed here.

In the end, Jim Norene came back to Normandy for the same reason we all come back.  He came for the reason articulated by Howard Huebner, another former paratrooper who is here with us today.  When asked why he made the trip, Howard said, “It’s important that we tell our stories.  It doesn’t have to be something big… just a little story about what happened — so people don’t forget.”

So people don’t forget.  

More about Norene can be read here.

By: Joel