Among those attending will be James L. Lockhart, who not only witnessed D-Day at Normandy with the 29th Division but also the Battle of the Bulge, one of the last major Nazi offensives against the Allies fought over the winter months in the mountains of Belgium. Lockhart is the kind of man that Robert L. Finn feels compelled to honor.
Finn is commander of the 29th Division Association, and though he is a Vietnam Veteran, has been to Normandy several times to pay tribute to those who fought there.
"You form bonds with the division and those people who came before you," he said.
Burke, whose father died recently at age 91 of a blood infection, said communing with other veterans in recent years not only caused many unspoken memories to resurface but also helped her and her family understand the experience he had rarely discussed.
"In our minds, he was a war hero," she said, adding that he earned his high school equivalency degree while in the hospital recovering from his war injuries and went on to become a lawyer.
The story of Harris' death was a poignant one for Army Brig. Gen. James Adkins, the state adjutant general and secretary of veterans affairs. "That gives you a feeling for the number of veterans we are losing each day from World War II."
He called the ceremonies in Annapolis and Normandy "an opportunity to reflect on their service and make sure that they are never forgotten" and to "watch the passing of the torch among generations."
