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First of all, it’s more powerful and emotional than I could have ever imagined. From the 500 yds of low tide at Omaha to sighting a “tobruk” machine gun at merville battery that almost assuredly killed dozens of British paratroopers, to the quite unbelievable accuracy of Brit glider pilots who squeezed two of them within yards of Pegasus Bridge, to the tiny causeways openings at Utah and Omaha that sprung entire divisions forward, and again Omaha, where you can still stare down perfectly sighted direct fire artillery bunkers that killed hundreds to the very bunker of the “Beast of Omaha” who may have killed even more. And then the memory of paratroops dropping into a house afire at St Mere Église, to the stifling bocage that made the war a meter wide for a soldier, and the incredibly moving miracle of the church at Angoville-au-Plain still stained with blood. Every inch of 60 miles has a story.

And then there was my fellow tour member Jim. 3rd battalion 26th Marines. 77 days at Khe Sanh including Hill 881 South. Who wandered the American Cemetery with me while telling story after story. And even our guide, who’s family survived St Lo and who’s grandfather as a 15 year old boy would weekly steal back the horse the germans took from their farm.

You can’t separate Normandy from the humanity broken and also born there. If you ever have the chance. Go.