A sound of men screaming and gunfire. Marie Scott, a World War II veteran, described D-Day as the ceremonies began on Tuesday to honor those who fought in the largest naval air and land operation of history.

The tribute this year to the young soldiers killed in Normandy reminds veterans, government officials and visitors of what Ukraine faces today.

The whistling wind was heard by many reenactors on Tuesday as they arrived at Omaha Beach in the early morning hours to commemorate the 79th Anniversary of the attack that liberated France and Western Europe. Others waved American flags. Some brought bouquets of flowers.

Scott heard it all. She was only 17 years old when she became a communication operator in Portsmouth. Her job was to relay messages between Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, senior officers and men on the ground.

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“I was in war.” She recalled hearing gunfire, bombing aircraft and men shouting, screaming and giving orders.

“After a few minutes of horror, I realized the truth… and thought, well, you’re right, there is no time for terror. You have a task to complete. Get on with it. “That’s what I did.”

Scott, who is about to celebrate her 97th birthday, said that D-Day marked a “pivotal moment” in her personal life.

“I was a non-combatant, but I was still in war. I understood the magnitude of war.” “People were dying at that moment.”

Scott expressed her “disgust” at the fact that another war is now raging in Europe following Russia’s invasion into Ukraine.

“War should be fought only if absolutely necessary, and if no other solution exists. It’s a terrible atrocity. “That’s what I feel,” said she.

Mervyn Kirsh, a British veteran who landed at Gold Beach on D-Day, said that Western allies must send the maximum amount of military aid to Ukraine. “The only thing you can do to remain free is to stay strong.”

Kersh added, with a sense for humor, “I’m in the Reserve, I’m now waiting to go to Ukraine.” Next job.”

A ceremony was held on Tuesday at the American Cemetery, located in Colleville-sur-Mer overlooking Omaha Beach. The cemetery is home to 9,386 graves of United States soldiers who lost their lives during the D-Day landings. The Walls of the Missing contain 1,557 names. Some of the names have been recovered or identified.

The commemoration was attended by U.S. Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley and WWII veterans.

As he ends his four-decade career in the military, Gen. Milley also took advantage of the Normandy celebrations to spend time with his troops. The Chairman held command in both the 82nd Airborne Division as well as the 101st Airborne Division. Normandy’s fields, towns, and causeways were the hallowed grounds of these divisions.

There were hundreds of soldiers, some of whom were on leave, with beers at hand. Others jumped out of planes as their predecessors had done 79 years earlier.

It was Milley’s last Normandy trip as their top commander. As he walked around Sainte-Mere-Eglise – the town that was the first to be liberated by the Nazis – or attended football matches commemorating the liberation, or spoke at ceremonies it felt as though the general had stopped to speak to each and every one of them and given a commemorative medal.

A ceremony to mark the anniversary of the Battle of Normandy was scheduled for the British Normandy Memorial, which is located nearby. The event will be attended by officials from Germany, as well as the nine principal Allied countries: Belgium, Canada and Denmark. Also expected are the British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace and French Minister of Armed Forces Sebastien lecornu.

The American Cemetery was packed with visitors on Tuesday to pay their respects to those who gave their lives.

Jean-Philippe Bertrand walked Monday through the endless lines of white crosses. He is a visitor to Marseille in southern France. He said, “It is unimaginable that I would make such a great sacrifice for the freedom of my son and myself.”

You see pictures and hear about it in the news. Once you are here, you can see for yourself the sacrifices that have been made to build our beautiful country. I wanted to go on this trip at least once to say thank you to all of these people.

Andreas Fuchs is a German professor who teaches French in Berlin. He brought his students, aged 10 to 12, to Normandy through an exchange program.

It’s important that children have an opportunity to learn about the liberation in Europe. “And to know what 80 years of peace is,” he said.