WWII veterans gather in Normandy

Normandy veterans (L-R) Victor Urch, 88, Frank Baugh, 89, and Derek Whitehead, 88, share a joke as they walk along what was the British Sword beach at Colleville Montgomery near Caen, France, June 5, 2013.

Across Normandy several hundred of the surviving veterans of the Normandy campaign are gathering to commemorate the 69th anniversary of the D-Day landings which eventually led to the Allied liberation of France in 1944.

People dressed in World War II uniforms sit on a tank close to the Pegasus Bridge Memorial Museum near Caen, France, June 5, 2013.

Normandy veterans gather for a memorial service at the Ranville War Cemetery near Caen, France, June 5, 2013.

Normandy veteran Reg Burge wipes his eye during a memorial service close to the British Sword beach at Colleville Montgomery near Caen, France, June 5, 2013.

Normandy veteran Eddie Linton, 87, who was in the Royal Navy on D-Day, stands on what was the British Sword beach at Colleville Montgomery near Caen, France, June 5, 2013.

Normandy veteran, Cyril Tasker, who was dropped by glider into Normandy in the early hours of D-Day, poses for a photograph as he visits the Pegasus Bridge Memorial Museum near Caen, France, June 5, 2013.

Normandy veteran Douglas Baines, 89, who was a paratrooper dropped into Normandy in the early hours of D-Day, poses for a photograph as he visits the Pegasus Bridge Memorial Museum, June 5, 2013.

Normandy veteran Eric Barley looks at grave stones before a memorial service in Ranville War Cemetery near Caen, France, June 5, 2013.

Normandy veterans (L-R) Victor Urch, 88, Frank Baugh, 89, and Derek Whitehead, 88, share a joke as they walk along what was the British Sword beach at Colleville Montgomery near Caen, France, June 5, 2013.

Normandy veteran Eric Gibbons, 90, who served in the Royal Navy on D-Day and was hit 3 times, arrives to attend a memorial service close to the British Sword beach at Colleville Montgomery near Caen, France, June 5, 2013.

Normandy veteran Eric Gibbons, 90, attends a memorial service close to the British Sword beach at Colleville Montgomery, June 5, 2013.

Normandy veteran Eric Barley, who was a paratrooper from 12th Battalion on D-Day, looks at grave stones before a memorial service in Ranville War Cemetery, June 5, 2013.

Normandy veteran Major Edwin Hunt walks up from what was the British Sword beach at Colleville Montgomery, June 5, 2013.

Normandy veterans gather for a memorial service in Ranville War Cemetery, June 5, 2013.

A gravestone for a Normandy soldier is seen in the churchyard of Ranville church close to the Ranville War Cemetery near Caen, France, June 5, 2013.

Normandy veteran, Ted Eaglen, 88, who was a paratrooper dropped into Normandy in the early hours of D-Day, poses for a photograph as he visits the Pegasus Bridge Memorial Museum, June 5, 2013.

A man dressed as a British World War II soldier leaves a tent at the Merville Gun Battery near Caen, France, June 5, 2013.

Normandy veteran Major Edwin Hunt stands on what was the British Sword beach at Colleville Montgomery near Caen, France, June 5, 2013.

Normandy veteran Douglas Baines, 89, who was a paratrooper dropped into Normandy in the early hours of D-Day, poses for a photograph as he visits the Pegasus Bridge Memorial Museum, June 5, 2013.

Normandy veterans gather for a memorial service in Ranville War Cemetery, June 5, 2013.

Normandy veteran Eric Barley, who was a paratrooper from 12th Battalion on D-Day, looks at grave stones before a memorial service in Ranville War Cemetery, June 5, 2013.

The afternoon sunlight illuminates a World War II-era Dakota aircraft displayed at the Merville Gun Battery near Caen, France, June 5, 2013.