As young soldiers, they waded ashore in Normandy through gunfire to battle the Nazis. On Thursday, a dwindling number of World War II veterans were joined by a new generation of leaders to honor the dead, the living and the fight for democracy in moving commemorations on and around those same beaches where they landed exactly 80 years ago on D-Day.

Friday marks the 70th anniversary of D-Day, the massive Allied invasion of Nazi occupied Europe that turned the tide of World War II.  Everyday the number of veterans who took part in that historic event are diminishing. But we hear from one Chicago-area veteran who was among the first to storm the beaches of Normandy.