80 years since D-Day, this Granite Bay veteran helps oversee American cemeteries worldwide
SACRAMENTO — June 6 marks 80 years since D-Day when the Allies stormed the beaches of Normandy, France during World War II.
Many Americans didn't return home and are actually buried around the world. One Northern California man's job is to help oversee the final resting place of Americans overseas.
Row after row in Normandy is a solemn reminder of what happened in 1944.
"One of the reasons we're out here is to try to remind folks how important it is to remember and to keep in mind that service and sacrifice, it doesn't go away," said Daniel Woodward, a retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general.
Woodward will be in Normandy to help commemorate 80 years since the invasion. The Granite Bay resident is now the vice chairman of the American Battle Monuments Commission, which was started in the aftermath of World War I when the U.S. lost more than 100,000 people.
"When we finished that conflict, a conclusion was we just can't bring everybody back," he said. "We didn't have the resources to bring everybody back home."
The commission now oversees 26 cemeteries and 31 memorials around the world where more than 200,000 have been memorialized and buried.
"They extend all the way from North Africa to New Zealand," Woodward said. "France is where most of our footprint is, all the way to the Philippines."
One focus of the commission is now education—teaching the younger generation about the sacrifices made by those who came before them.
"We try to get out and talk about what this history that we have really means to the next generation and the next generation," Woodward said.
He knows most people weren't around 80 years ago when the Allies stormed the beach, but he hopes they take a moment and remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
"We're a free nation and we are a great nation, and the primary reason we have these freedoms and that we're a great nation is because of the service and sacrifice," Woodward said. "That's protected our national interest and protected our country over the years and decades."
On Thursday, June 6, 2024, an honoring ceremony will be taking place in Normandy where over 9,000 Americans are buried. Close to 12,000 people are expected to be at the event. Here is information on how you can watch a live stream of the event.