National commander pays tribute to heroes – one personal – of World War II as ceremonies begin, leading up to the 82nd anniversary of D-Day.
The skies over Normandy erupted with intermittent vengeance once again. This time, 82 years removed from the lead-up to the D-Day invasion of World War II, no B-17s, C-47s, anti-aircraft rounds, tracer fire or paratroopers were part of the equation. Mother Nature showed her own coastal temper, unleashing cloudbursts and wind gusts between flashes of sunshine to thousands who gathered June 4 in northwestern France to commemorate the historic mission to liberate Europe from Nazi occupation in 1944.
American Legion National Commander Dan K. Wiley, a U.S. Air Force veteran, took the climatological assault in stride, speaking and placing remembrance wreaths at the C47 Memorial Garden in Picauville and in two gatherings in the La Fiere Bridge Memorial Park overlooking the Merderet River plain, a historically deadly battlefield on D-Day and the days that followed. One of the ceremonies, at the Eighth Air Force Monument unveiled in 2025 by the Normandy Institute, had special meaning for Wiley.
The sacrifices of the Eighth Army Air Force is “a legacy that can be quantified in some grim realities,” he told the crowd at La Fiere Bridge Memorial Park. “More than 47,000 casualties. More than 26,000 deaths. These numbers exceed U.S. Marine Corps losses in the entire Pacific Theater of World War II. But numbers don’t tell the whole story.
“One of those 26,000-plus who did not come home was my uncle, who served in the ball turret of a B17. He flew in the first American attack on Berlin in March 1944. His 28th combat mission – 82 years ago last month – would be his last. Everyone who did not come home from war had a name. My uncle’s name was Vernon Kaufman. I never met him. And yet, I will never forget him.”
Vernon Kaufman’s bomber went down within 10 miles of where the national commander delivered his message.
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As wind, downpours and sunbeams took turns opening and closing umbrellas among the resilient crowd, the ceremonies moved forward without breaking stride, because, as Wiley said, “To all those whose names drift deeper into history with each passing year, we must all commit ourselves to a simple vow – to never forget.”
The blustery day began at Picauville’s 2021-inaugurated memorial park that commemorates a C-47 crash there that was shot down, killing 20 Americans attached to the 101st Airborne Division in the early morning of June 6, 1944. The garden is formed in the shape of the World War II workhorse Skytrain that went down there. Twenty trees are planted around the site, one for each of those who were killed. The site also features markers remembering the 16 paratroopers and four crewmen who died in the crash; they were decorated with American and French flags during the ceremony.
Marie Pascal Legrand, who joined World War II combat veteran Charles Shay in the establishment of the memorial park, welcomed family members of two who were killed in the D-Day crash. Maj. Gen. William Gardner, commander of the 101st Airborne Division, spoke, as did U.S. Consul for Western France Emily Cintora, Picauville Mayor Ludovic Mignot and German Army Lt. Col. Franck Lindstedt.
Two living World War II veterans – Jack Hugman and Jack Boeki – attended the ceremony, via Texas American Legion member Jeff Wells’ Walk Among Heroes program to annually bring aged veterans back to the battlefields.
Following the Picauville ceremony, Wiley and four of his fellow Kansas American Legion Family members – National Executive Committeeman Jeremy Ehart and wife Kristy, and Alternate Executive Committee member Angela Evans and husband Bryant – headed down the narrow, rain-soaked road to La Fiere Memorial Park.
There, thanks to the efforts of the Normandy Institute, with which The American Legion has had a long relationship, a new memorial plaque was unveiled listing 151 graduates of the United States Military Academy. West Point Superintendent Lt. Gen. Steven Gilland led a unit of cadets in the ceremony; each read names inscribed on the plaque, of those from the Long Gray Line who had fought in Normandy.
The West Point memorial was one of two new monuments installed at the memorial park by the Normandy Institute in 2026. A life-size one of Lt. Gen. James Gavin – the “jumping general” and West Point graduate who parachuted with his men and led from the front in the battle at La Fiere Bridge – was unveiled June 5, also brought into existence by the Normandy Institute. National Executive Committeeman Ehart presented a floral wreath at that ceremony, attended by members of the Gavin family, military and local dignitaries. The statue is the work of renowned sculptor Benjamin Victor.
Gavin – the only American general to make all four combat jumps in World War II – was a pioneer in airborne warfare who helped transform the 82nd Airborne Division in World War II and beyond. He continued as a beacon of leadership in the development of the 1st Air Cavalry Division in the Vietnam War, led the Army’s missile research program in the 1950s and was involved in the early U.S. space program.
The memorial to the Eighth Army Air Force, dedicated in 2025, was also an initiative of the Normandy Institute, an educational and leadership campus that has conducted symposia, ceremonies and historical/cultural exhibitions at Chateau de Bernaville, near Picauville. The institute’s aim is to bridge the historic past of the Normandy liberation to build the future through leadership, alliance and inspiration.
The tribute of Amies des Veterans Americains (AVA) to the 82nd Airborne Division on the 82nd anniversary of D-Day wrapped up with June 4 remembrances at the park, in which Wiley placed floral wreaths on behalf of The American Legion.
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