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Michigan Remembers D-Day: Today's Generation Honors the Greatest Generation

WKAR Public Media | By Kevin Lavery
Published June 6, 2019 at 5:50 AM EDT
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The B-17 bomber "Yankee Lady" is housed at what remains of the Willow Run bomber plant near Ypsilanti. The Yankee Air Museum is planning to move into the space once it's refurbished.
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Nose art was a common fixture on U.S. aircraft during World War II.
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Retired U.S. Navy pilot Randy Hotton stands beside a replica of the cockpit of a B-24 Liberator. During the war, Willow Run turned out one B-24 every hour.
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Paratrooper Donald Burgett air dropped into France on D-Day. He was wounded three times during the Normandy campaign. He still wears a piece of shrapnel around his neck.
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The C-47 was the workhorse of the U.S. airborne forces. It's the same type of plane from which Donald Burgett jumped on D-Day.
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The Lakeshore Lancers marching band from Stevensville is performing in Normandy this week to observe the 70th anniversary of D-Day.
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The Lakeshore Lancers will pour more than 700 vials of sand collected from around the state on the graves of Michigan soldiers killed during the Normandy campaign in the summer of 1944.
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Larry Michal air dropped into Normandy around 2 a.m. on D-Day. He carried critical maps needed to establish a command post. Michal served with the 82nd Airborne Division.
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The Lakeshore Lancers marching band.
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Courtesy Lakeshore High School
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Editor’s Note: This story originally aired on the 70th anniversary of D-Day in 2014.

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Credit Kevin Lavery / WKAR
Donald Burgett served as a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division -- the "Screaming Eagles." He was among the first U.S. soldiers to land in Normandy on June 6, 1944.

On June 6, 1944, more than 160, 000 Allied forces traversed the English Channel to land on the beaches of Normandy in France.  Operation Overlord, commonly known as "D-Day," was the largest seaborne invasion in history.  The offensive marked the beginning of the end of World War II in Europe.

WKAR is proud to honor the sacrifice of all veterans, living and dead, who gave of themselves to restore freedom and hope to a war-torn world.

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WKAR NewsHistoryD-DayFranceNormandy
Kevin Lavery
Kevin Lavery is a general assignment reporter and occasional local host for Morning Edition and All Things considered.
See stories by Kevin Lavery
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