We waded and scrambled toward shore. We found men pinned down on the beach, many wounded or killed and many terrified, all surrounded by ruined and s… - Walter D. Ehlers

Our purpose went well beyond aiding our allies as they faced the German blitz. It was to save our way of life, for our parents and siblings at home, for our children, and the children we hoped to have, and for their children. It has been a way of life that was worth fighting for. We have enjoyed the longest period of world peace in modern history. We relish new spectrums of religious, racial, and political tolerance. We are free of the tyrannies of the likes of Hitler. We must not forget, however, what this freedom cost. We earned that security with our sweat and our blood, some of us with our lives. Much of it was earned right here in Normandy. Many of those who enjoy freedom know little of its price.

I was on the train, and another fellow says, 'I'm reading here where your brother got the Medal of Honor.' I said, 'Yes, I'm reading about that, too.' But I didn't tell him it was me he was reading about because I had not got the Medal yet. I got off the train, and I was headed for the CP, the Command Post, when a colonel called me by my last name. I was in fatigue uniform, and I didn't know any colonels. But this colonel knew me. He said, 'Sergeant Ehlers, what are you doing here?' I said, 'Well, sir, I'm reporting back to duty.' He says, 'Well, you're supposed to be back in the States getting the Medal of Honor from President Roosevelt.' And I said, 'Yes, sir, I read about it in Stars and Stripes.
A couple of days later they had me come to a press conference, and I'm just standing there. Then the general told the people that he wanted to introduce me to them and what I did in Normandy and so forth. Me? The Medal of Honor? It was quite a sensation to the press corps there to meet a Medal of Honor guy. I didn't look like anything, a young kid with a helmet, no stripes, never decorated before. Major General Clarence R. Huebner promoted me after he introduced me as having received the Medal of Honor- which I still hadn't received yet. He introduced me as Lieutenant Ehlers. After the press conference, we were coming out of there, he had his arm around my shoulder, and he said, 'Sergeant Ehlers, I'm going to promote you to second lieutenant.' I said, 'Well, sir, I don't think I qualify.' He said, 'You qualify.' I said, 'Yes, sir.'

The world changed on June 6, 1944, the day the good guys took charge again. It did not mean peace, but it marked the stand for freedom that would continue through the Korean War, the Vietnam conflict, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the Allied containment of Iraq. The spirit of D-Day carried Allied momentum across the hedgerows of France, through the Ardennes and the Battle of the Bulge, and toward Berlin; it put new hope into the battle-weary troops in the Pacific.
While we braved these then-fortified beaches to beat back Hitler and to liberate Europe, we fought for much more than that. We fought to preserve what our forefathers had died for. We picked up our guns to protect our faith, to preserve our liberty.