This week, I traveled to France with a delegation of my congressional colleagues, led by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), to honor the 80th anniversary of the Allied invasion on D-Day on the battlefields where 150,000 young men from the United States and our allies commenced the largest invasion by sea in the history of the world. We participated in commemorative events alongside veterans of the Second World War and their family members, current U.S. servicemembers, leaders from Allied nations, and local civilians from Normandy.
I was particularly moved by our visit to a military cemetery located near Omaha Beach which contains the gravesites of more than 9,000 Americans, including Nebraskans, killed in action on D-Day and in subSCOTTSBLUFF— sequent combat in Normandy.
The young men who, against the odds and concerns for their own safety, stormed the beaches and jumped from military transport planes eight decades ago were in the earliest years of adulthood.
