The heroes of D-Day are nearly gone. Here’s how we can honor them always | Opinion

They are almost all gone now.

It’s likely that this commemoration of the D-Day invasion will be the last round-number anniversary to feature those who flew the bombers, parachuted into occupied France, braved oppressive enemy fire on the beaches and ultimately cracked open the Nazi fortress to save Europe.

It was 80 years ago on June 6, 1944, when the Allies launched the largest, most intricately coordinated assault in man’s long history of war.

Of those few who remain, many are approaching age 100 or well past it. The World War II generation is nearly gone, with just 119,550 of the 16.4 million Americans who served during the war alive at the end of 2023. Figures for D-Day participants are harder to come by, but comparatively few of the nearly 160,000 Allied troops who landed or parachuted into France that day remain.

So, this 80th anniversary takes on even more meaning. It’s not just a chance to say thank you and recall the sacrifice made by thousands who were killed or wounded. It’s an opportunity to say goodbye and, perhaps more importantly, let them know we will never forget.

France, where gratitude has never wavered, is welcoming veterans to Normandy; nearly 70 arrived courtesy of Fort Worth-based American Airlines. President Joe Biden will speak Thursday from Pointe du Hoc, the cliff that Army Rangers painstakingly climbed to help clear the way for troops on the beaches below.

Let’s remember and thank the World War II generation, too, for what it did when it came home. Many veterans settled in Fort Worth, staffing the important Strategic Air Command center at Carswell Air Force Base. Others built the General Dynamics planes (now Lockheed Martin) and Bell helicopters that helped secure victory in the Cold War. In so doing, they fueled the economic growth and power that our area enjoys today.

It’s proper to shower the men of D-Day and all the men and women of the World War II generation with gratitude while they are here. We can honor them further by never forgetting what ordinary people did to become extraordinary heroes.

And we must give them the ultimate tribute of pledging to meet the moment ourselves when human liberty and dignity and democracy are on the line. We can’t know when or where or how that will be necessary.

But we can begin to be ready by vowing that what those brave Americans and their allies did will never be in vain.

When the 90th anniversary of D-Day arrives, there may be no participant left to honor in person. If we carry in our hearts gratitude for the legacy of what they achieved, though, we can ensure they’ll never disappear.