June 6, 1944

Sixty-five years ago, on this day, allied forces - American, British, and Canadian - began one of the largest operations of World War II. At the time, much of Europe was in the hands of Nazi Germany.

Early on that Sunday morning, 156,000 troops set out in 5,000 ships and boats. They left from England and landed at Normandy. This battle turned the tide of the war in Europe. The Germans surrendered in May, 1945.

Each year, veterans have returned to Normandy to meet old friends, and remember the friends they left on the beach that cold Sunday morning.

Recalling D-Day, 65 years later: 'I don't know how I survived'

Fred DiCicco, of Pembroke Pines, Florida, is 85. He remembers that morning back in 1944, remembers the friends who died there, the friends who got Purple Hearts.

Ben Packer is 87. He flew air support over the beaches.

Both men came back to civilian life after the war. DiCicco ran a gas station in New Jersey for 25 years; Packer was a New York policeman, then a corporate pilot for IBM.

D-day in Normandy

Louis Delevin, now 77, was mayor of Cricqueville-en-Bessin, a small village in Normandy, near Le Havre. The first thing he did when elected in 1989 was to build a monument to the US soldiers who served there. The people of Cricqueville have never forgottten those days.

"If they hadn't come, where would we be today?", he asked.

The church in Cricqueville has a marble plaque that reads "Christian, do not forget the American soldiers who risked and sacrificed their lives for you along this coast on June 6, 1944".

Jean Castel, 77, is a historian of the war, and a former pilot. He said, "People here never forget the Americans. For us, they were the liberators."

Red Skelton's Pledge of Allegiance

In honor of Flag Day.
This is a sound clip from Red Skelton's TV show, sometime in the 40s. He talks about how they said the Pledge when he was in school, and how one of his teachers took the time to really explain it to the students. It's as timeless now as it was then.

Flag Day in Anaheim

"If we don't leave this legacy for our children, who will?". Sally Feldhaus started Anaheim's Flag Day celebration thirteen years ago.

Another Anaheim resident, Marlys Pearson, said, "This is a time for us to recognize the people in service and remind ourselves that we stand together united as one nation under God".

Flag Day at Fort McHenry

Fort McHenry, in Baltimore, Maryland, is the place to be on Flag Day. This is the place that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the words to "The Star Spangled Banner"

Flag etiquette

There are proper ways to handle and display the flag, and a proper way to dispose of flags that are too worn to use. The traditions and instructions are spelled out on The Flag of the United States of America website.