The men who fought at Normandy

The men who fought on D-Day, June 6, 1944, are now in their 90s or 100s, wrinkled and often moving with the help of a cane or wheelchair. Their hands often tremble and their voices shake as they labor to speak. But 75 years ago they were young men, many in their teens, preparing to go to war. The Associated Press captured images of D-Day veterans from the United States, Great Britain, Canada and Germany who are returning to Normandy for the 75th anniversary. For some. it will be their first time since they fought there. Others have made repeated pilgrimages to the sandy beaches. They will remember the choppy waters lapping at the ships, the flash of the tracer bullets, the roar of the artillery, and they’ll say a prayer for those who did not make it back.

Section:Gallery

Fri., May 24, 2019

World War II and D-Day veteran Charles Norman Shay, from Indian Island, Maine, salutes the grave of fellow soldier Edward Morozewicz at the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, France, Wednesday, May 1, 2019. Shay was a combat medic assigned to an assault battalion in the first wave of attacks on D-Day, June 6, 1944.

Virginia Mayo Associated Press
In this photo taken April 29, 2019, D-Day veteran Jake Larson poses before going for a ride in the "The Spirit of Benovia" World War II-era aircraft in Oakland, Calif. Both Larson and the former C-53 Skytrooper transport plane plan to be in Normandy, France and take part in events for the 75th anniversary of D-Day. The plane takes its name after a winery in Sonoma County.

Eric Risberg Associated Press
In this photo taken Monday, May 20, 2019, veteran Norman Harold Kirby looks out the window of his bayside home as he poses for a photo in Lions Bay, Canada. The fighting started for Kirby before he'd even made it to Juno Beach. The Canadian from British Columbia had joined the army when he was only 17 and was barely a 19-year-old private when he climbed into the landing craft that would take him to shore on June 6, 1944.

Elaine Thompson Associated Press
In this photo made Thursday, May 9, 2019, French WWII veteran Leon Gautier, of the Kieffer commando, poses for a picture in his house, in Ouistreaham, Normandy. Gautier is a D-Day veteran who was part of a 177-man French force that landed on D-Day.

Thibault Camus Associated Press
Dennis Trudeau, a World War II veteran who landed in Normandy on D-Day, poses for a photo at his home May, 21, 2019, in Grovetown, Ga. Trudeau had joined the Canadian military at 17 and became a paratrooper in part because they paid an extra $50 a month.

Richard Shiro Associated Press
Steve Melnikoff who came ashore Normandy, France on D-Day with the 175th Regiment of the 29th Infantry Division, sits in his home in Cockeysville, Md., on May 21, 2019. His unit was part of the bloody campaign to capture the French town of Saint-Lo through fields marked by thick hedgerows that provided perfect cover for German troops.

Steve Ruark Associated Press
In this Wednesday, May 1, 2019 photo WWII veteran Peter Orlando, of Concord, Mass., who was a radioman on a tug boat that helped pull damaged ships off of the Normandy beaches during D-day, sits for a photograph in front of his home, in Concord. Orlando plans to travel to Normandy for the 75th anniversary of the D-Day Invasion.

Steven Senne Associated Press
World War II US veteran Frank DeVita, 94, who took part in the D-Day battle poses for a picture at his home in Bridgewater, New Jersey, Tuesday, May 14, 2019.

Andres Kudacki Associated Press
German D-Day veteran Paul Golz poses for a photo at his home in Koenigswinter, Germany, after an interview with The Associated Press on May 17, 2019. Golz and his comrades were taken prisoner by an American patrol on June 9, 1944, three days after the Allied landing.

Martin Meissner Associated Press
In this Wednesday, May 22, 2019, photo, D-Day veteran Eugene Deibler poses for a photo with his medals from WWII at his home in Charlotte, N.C. “How many people remember the Civil War? How many people will remember World War I? And now it's the same with World War II,” he said. “World War II will fade away also.”

Chuck Burton Associated Press
In this photo taken Wednesday, May 15, 2019, Vincent Corsini, a World War II U.S. Army veteran in the 29th Infantry Division poses for a photo in Burlington, N.C. Corsini served during D-Day on June 6, 1944, at the invasion at Normandy. “I wouldn't change my experience for a million dollars,” he said, adding: “I wouldn't go through it again for a million dollars.”

Gerry Broome Associated Press
British D-Day veteran Leonard 'Ted' Emmings, who was a naval Coxswain serving on a small landing craft which landed 36 Canadians on Juno beach in France, poses for photographs backdropped by the map used to plan the Normandy D-Day landings during a D-Day 75th anniversary media facility at Southwick House near Portsmouth, England, Thursday, May 9, 2019.

Matt Dunham Associated Press
British D-Day veteran Ron Smith who was on landing craft tank 947, a landing vessel that received heavy shell damage as it approached Sword Beach on D-Day, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press during a D-Day 75th anniversary media facility at Southwick House near Portsmouth, England, Thursday, May 9, 2019. Southwick House was the forward headquarters of the allied forces preparing for the invasion of Normandy in 1944, the nerve centre of D-Day.

Matt Dunham Associated Press
In this May 7, 2019, photo, Chelsea Pensioner and D-Day veteran George Skipper speaks during an interview with Associated Press at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea, London. While the anniversary provides a welcome platform for Skipper, it's also hard on him. He wonders why he survived and others didn't.

Kirsty Wigglesworth Associated Press
British Chelsea Pensioner and D-Day veteran Frank Mouque, 94, poses for a portrait during a D-Day 75th anniversary event in the State Apartments at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London, Monday, May 13, 2019. Mouque, who can't hear well now and answered media questions by reading them from a piece of paper, was a Sapper and Corporal in the British Royal Engineers. On D-Day he landed on Sword beach and carried with him 21 pounds of explosives to blow down telegraph poles.

Matt Dunham Associated Press