While it was a day of happy nostalgia for the Bussards, other veterans soberly bore the sharp pain of loss, remembering fallen comrades.

Robert Clark, who flew in from Detroit, spoke proudly about his time as a machine gunner in the 86th Infantry Division Blackhawks until asked why he came to see the memorial.

Choked up, he turned to his son Thomas, who suggested, “The ones who didn’t make it?”

Clark nodded.

God bless them and all who have gone before them. Read it all.