At 16, Lester Lease left his Cumberland home and lied about his age to enlist in the army. He was a sergeant when his 29th Division landed at Omaha Beach on D-Day. Whatever his age, the things he saw that awful morning ended his youth forever.

"We walked down the side of the boat into the water. The water was deep and there was men in the water dead, there was blood in the water, and they were firing at us at the same time. The wounded was lying there hollering for help. You couldn't stop, taking a chance getting killed yourself. You see some guys floating by and they are dead, and you just feel so bad. And the other guy is behind you and you know, they are scared too, and you are trying to tell them to come on, get off the beach. Maybe you would have a guy lying out there, and he wouldn't move. I had to almost practically pull him out of there. They"d send him to the back. I said, 'The boy can't help it. The fright just got to him.""