When I saw what was happening on that beach,

Aya, I saw bodies floating,

and in my mind was flashing through.

There's a son, a father, that won't be coming home.

This week's episode of the Sunday special is going to be a little bit different.

In just a few days, June 6th, it'll be the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion

in Normandy, the beginning of the end of Nazi domination in Europe.

In today's episode, I'll be interviewing four very special veterans who fought in World War II,

some at Normandy itself. Jack Gutman, George Champa, Mike Levere, and Tom Rice. I'm honored to have

been able to spend time with these men, and I hope that you enjoy hearing their stories.

Well, I'm eager to welcome to the program. Tom Rice is a member of the 101st Airborne Division during D-Day.

Mr. Rice, thank you so much for joining the show.

So what was it like to jump into the middle of the firestorm on D-Day?

There's a lot of answers to that question.

But mainly it was chaos. Chaos, chaos. And so everything

that is chaotic probably occurs in route. We were stationed at Merrifield Airport, 501 Battalion 1 was there,

506 Battalion 3, and 326 airborne engineers

all boarding 45 aircraft in Section 14.

We headed down the runway and in one aircraft there was a

fellow who was injured on one of the practice jumps and he was in the hospital. He broke

loose from the hospital and wasn't going to miss this escapade and he got to the

airport but without proper equipment but the kids ravelled or scavengered up

...