I went fishing yesterday. It was a beautiful day on Lake Erie. The fish have moved and are now more than 12 miles offshore. As we headed north onto Ohio's Great Lake, there was nary a boat in sight. We rode and rode and rode and seemed to have the whole lake to ourselves. Twenty minutes later, there was a tiny black dot on the horizon, and soon another dot and then another. They dots slowly got larger and larger, and there were more and then more as a pack of probably 200 boats, all sizes and shapes, emerged from nowhere, before our eyes.

I turned to my friends and said, "Now we now how the Germans felt when they looked up and saw the D-Day armada!" Well, not really.

I was reminded of that as I watched the moving 65th anniversary D-Day ceremonies this morning and heard the President speak. I thought about the contrast in the two armadas. Yesterday a peaceful fleet, with people laughing and enjoying life, made possible by the fleet 65 years ago, that one full of fear and horror, blood and death, honor and sacrifice. To describe that day and their accomplishment, the President this morning quoted Lyndon Johnson... "We have come to the hour for which we were born...." The President also relayed the words of a veteran he had met, who explained... it's important to come and tell the stories so we never forget.

There are a whole lot of Buckeyes we should not forget as well, and I have been so privileged to interview some of them for this book! One day they were playing in the 'Shoe or studying on campus...the next they were involved in D-Day itself, the Battle of the Bulge, the march across Europe, Iwo Jima and many of the other turning points. Robin Pridy, Chuck Csurri, Fred Machol, Don Steinbeg, Gene Fekete, Charlie Magg, Opal McAlister...those are just a few of them.

There are 1000 WWII veterans dying each day. I look forward to preserving some of their stories, so indeed, we never do forget.