♪ alter ego alter ego alter ego alter ego ♪ ♪ nah nah nah nah nah boom boom you dead to me dead to me ♪ ♪ dead to me dead to me ♪ ♪ alter ego ♪ 2024! [ cheers and applause ] tonight, david muir reporting from normandy. >> good to see you again. >> there with our world war ii veterans. 80 years to the day since the historic d-day invasion. >> irving, why was it so important for you to get back here? >> to let people know that freedom is not free.

>> what an honor and a pleasure this is for me. >> the american heroes. >> david: you still remember. you were 22 years old when you landed on that beach? >> yes, i do. >> now sharing their stories. >> david: you didn't talk about it for years and years? >> for 67 years, i never talked about it. >> their memories. that pivotal moment in history as they risked their lives and lost brothers in battle. >> seeing all of these boys that was killed, just laying there on the beach -- >> we knew the people killed. you grow up in a hurry. >> there was a job had to be done. somebody had to do it. we did it. >> their incredible journey, returning to the beaches of normandy. >> david: this is the first time you've seen utah beach in the daylight? >> yes, we landed at midnight. >> president biden and the first lady here at normandy honoring our vets and remembering the fallen. and we are with them at the american cemetery. >> the sacrifice they made to protect our freedoms, the thing they fought for -- >> the brave men we've

documented for five years retracing their footsteps eight decades later. their message for all americans tonight. this special edition of normandy: david muir reporting," will be right back. for our d, but less than 10% of us get enough each day. good thing metamucil gummies are an easy way to get prebiotic, plant-based fiber. with the same amount of fiber as 2 cups of broccoli. metamucil gummies the easy way to get your daily fiber. pain means pause on the things you love, but... green... means... go! ♪ cool the pain with biofreeze. and keep on going. biofreeze. green means go.

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it is sunrise here on the beaches of normandy, where 80 years ago in the early morning hours, thousands of brave american sons began storming the beaches of normandy. they would keep coming for days. >> everybody was scared, because the long life we figured we were going to have could be ended with one bullet or one bomb or one mine. >> people say, how did you get off that boat and go in on the beach? there was a job had to be done. somebody had to do it. we did it. >> i've never seen as many dead men on the beaches, i've never seen -- you couldn't stop and help anybody. because they kept calling "get off the beach, get off the beach, get set to go fire those guns." >> seeing all of these boys that was killed and just laying there on the beach -- it was just --

it was tough. we were all young. >> man, i was scared. i didn't realize what war was until that day. it was awful. >> there was no sleeping on that ship. so we were up all night. >> we had to climb down the net, wig cargo net hanging down the side of the ship, with your equipment. if you slipped, you'd wind up in between, being crushed. >> there were parachutes in trees. we knew the people had to be killed. you grow up in a hurry. >> david: for five years now, we have been documenting our world war ii veterans. we lose 131 heroes every day in the u.s. fewer than 1% of them are still here. in this towing garage in violin, new jersey, a quiet world war ii veteran has been coming to work here since 1964. tim, how are you?

>> what an honor and a pleasure this is for me. >> david: oh, this is an honor for me. tim kanarie is 102. you still remember, you were 22 years old when you landed that beach? >> yes, i do. what you were doing was, you had to move. keep moving. >> david: you didn't have time to think about -- >> that's right. devs he was a medic. you were there to help the injured? >> yes. >> david: and there were many. >> yes. >> david: he shows me the photos and the notes he took as a young man at war. you wrote here, "bloody beach." >> "bloody beach." >> david: he was part of the 45th evacuation hospital. you helped get them home. >> well, that's the thing. that's -- that's the thing. a lot of them didn't make it. >> david: we spent time with harold himmelsback, too. raised in yakima, washington, he is now 98. harold. >> how are you? >> david: it's an honor. he remembers landing on that beach on d-day. >> the most dramatic time in my

life. and i remember best and saw things that very few people would ever see. i would say the guys died within feet of me. >> david: he was just 18. >> i remember i had to pick up one guy's head, you know. because he'd been cut and so forth. and you almost took it as a -- the reality of where you were. you knew you had to do these things. it was just, take care of your friend. and that's what we all did. we were all americans. >> david: the letter he wrote home to his mother. >> "dear mom. i suppose i should begin this by telling you, i am somewhere in france." >> david: so many of those young american soldiers kept diaries. >> "june 6, 1944. invasion started." >> david: harold mcmurran's diary had no entries for the next five days. he was with the 4th infantry division, and he told us he watched the medics trying to

save his friends. >> they were trying to perform -- sometimes they would be in worse shape than the men they was trying to take care of. >> we all had what we called a buddy. we knew that that buddy would give his life for us, and vice versa. >> david: one of those brave combat medics at the war, jake ruser, who is now 99. jake. it's an honor. >> nice to meet you. >> david: nice to meet you too. jake knows how many heroes we lose every day, which is why he's on his way to a high school history class in downingtown, pennsylvania, to make sure their sacrifice is not forgotten. you didn't even talk about it for years and years? >> for years. for 67 years, i never talked about it. >> david: why do you think you didn't talk about it for so long? >> don't know. >> david: you all came home and got to work? >> we got on, came home. went to finish our education. and we -- we went to work.

>> hello, sir, how are you? >> david: the principal and the students who are now nearly jake's age when he was sent off to the war. >> the world we live in today is no accident. the freedom we enjoy today is the result of actions of heroic folks like mr. ruser. >> david: the students fixed on jake's words about the combat medics who would go out into no man's land, german snipers waiting. a lot of people don't realize that you were not armed -- >> we were not armed. >> david: when you went out in no man's land? >> that's right. you had to keep your eyes and ears open. >> david: there were times when the germans took aim? >> their idea was to try to knock you out. >> david: do you remember losing any of your medics? >> oh, we lost quite a few of our medics. >> david: the students had their own questions. >> how did you mentally prepare yourself to go to war, knowing that there was a possibility that you weren't going to return back home? >> you never thought about that. you always do it with the idea

you're going to make it through. >> what would you say is something you gained from the war and something you lost? >> i think it made you grow up sooner. i'll tell you why. you did an awful lot of praying. at least, i did. >> thank you for your service. i mean, you put your life on the line for us. >> thank you. >> david: the applause from those students now fueling jake on his journey back to normandy. >> it's impressive, isn't it? >> david: alan kinder from gainesville, georgia, going back too after answering the call 80 years ago. >> it would have been terrible not to have been in it at the time. personal pride was important to everybody, you know? >> david: irving loughner oxford, florida, getting ready, too. >> that's my helmet from the war. >> david: there's a reason he's going back. >> people have to know that freedom is not free. so, i'm doing that now with my full heart and conscience. >> david: and back at that towing garage in new jersey, tim

is getting ready for the journey. >> you're off? >> off. >> okay. >> david: at 102 years old, to go back 80 years later? >> that's something that gets -- gets to me. 80 years. and the people of normandy are still honoring us. >> david: 80 years later, they are going back. when we come back. ♪ ♪ i got the power of 3. i lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight. in studies, the majority of people reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. i'm under 7. ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, or death in adults also with known heart disease. i'm lowering my risk. adults lost up to 14 pounds. i lost some weight. ozempic® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles.

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♪ >> david: it was 80 years ago this morning. thousands of brave young men

from america would storm the beaches of normandy, the largest amphibious invasion in military history. 50 miles of normandy coastline, the beaches with code names. utah, omaha, gold, sword. for more than five years, we have been following world war ii veterans across the country. jake ruser, a combat medic, who now visits schools. >> nice to meet you. >> david: nice to meet you, too. >> reporter: tim kiniry, who's been showing up for work at the same towing garage since 1964. tim, how are you? >> what an honor and pleasure this is for me. >> david: oh, this is an honor for me. >> that's my helmet during the war. >> david: irving walker, who landed on utah beach, ready to go back, too. jake looking out his window and looking forward to this trip 80 years later. tonight, the remarkable journey. >> i'm ready. >> david: these world war ii

veterans, many of whom have never met, arrive at the airport. the pilot with his own message. >> passengers, we've got veterans here on their way to mark the 80th anniversary of the invasion at normandy. we thank them very much for their service. >> david: the applause from the people in that terminal who knew they were among heroes. the honor guard saluting them as they boarded. >> thank you very much. >> david: 80 years later, they are going back. they land in paris and drive to normandy, to utah beach. they are greeted as heroes. >> thank you so much, sir. thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> david: so many here taking photos with them, shaking their hands. many of the people here simply wanted to thank them. >> thank you, sir. >> thank you. >> you're quite welcome. >> david: after traveling the u.s. to document their stories, we told these veterans we'd meet them at utah beach.

gentlemen. >> hello. >> david: good to see you again. >> good to see you. >> david: all of those veterans, once young men, now returning to the beaches of normandy. alan kinder has not set foot back on this beach in 80 years. he tells us he is grateful to be here. alan, let me ask you. this is the first time you of ever seen utah beach in the daylight? >> yes, we landed at midnight. and they told me there was a chance to come here. i've kind of lived my life over again, and i've really, really enjoyed that. i've been able to bring my grandson with me. we've gotten closer. >> david: irving locker was determined to come back, too. irving, why was it so important for you to get back here? >> it was so important for me to let people know that freedom is not free. i thank god every single day that i'm alive and well, and people have to know that. people have to know that. >> david: because many did not

survive? >> they did not survive. >> david: kim kiniry says he still thinks about the brothers he lost here every day. >> every day of my life, i think about it. >> david: not a day goes by? >> it means a great deal to me to be here today to honor these -- the ones that lost their lives in particular. >> david: jake ruser tells us he's been moved by the strangers who have approached him to thank him for his sacrifice. you believe that if people remember the sacrifices that were made here, that it might actually bring our country together back home? >> oh, i think they will. for me, people from all over the world, it's really something where you're remembering what happened 80 years ago here. >> david: they're showing up to thank you? >> right here, that's right. >> david: nofriel zarqawi, now 101, he came to normandy on the 75th anniversary, and he was determined to be here for the 80th. you came back five years ago.

you're back here today. how important is it that people remember? >> oh -- got to remember. we fought for freedom. we've got to have a younger generation to help us now. we're depending on them. they depended on us, we're going to depend on them now. >> david: do you have hope? >> oh, yeah. yeah. >> david: in normandy today, the commemoration ceremony for the veterans who landed here on d-day. the veterans who changed the course of history. president biden. >> we cannot let what happened here be lost in the silence of the years to come. we must remember it. must honor it and live it. >> david: french president emmanuel macron. >> here you came to join your efforts with our own soldiers and to make france a free nation. and you are back here today at home, if i may say. >> david: after the ceremony, president biden and first lady

jill biden with us at the normandy american cemetery. it's hard to stand here without recognizing the bravery of all these young men. 80 years ago this morning. >> the sacrifice they made to protect our freedoms, the thing they fought for -- i think an obligation we have to preserve what they fought for. >> david: the first lady thinking of her own father, who enlisted after d-day. you think about donald jacobs? >> i do. it's hard not to. >> david: your father? >> uh-huh. he signed up. he was actually too young. my grandmom had to sign for him to sign up. and as a child. i mean, i have four sisters. he told us about it every day. i mean, it was -- we knew he was, you know -- he so honored his service to our country. >> david: i couldn't help but to notice on this cross here "a comrade in arms known but to god." >> yep. >> david: one of the unknowns.

>> think of how many people never found out what happened to their child or husband. >> david: the president and the first lady say they are determined to remember the sacrifice. while back on that beach, alan kinder, who told us that all of this has been a gift because he's been able to talk about the war again. and in doing so become closer to his grandson, justin. at 99, telling his grandson what he faced after landing here on this beach. your grandfather has told me, what a gift to have revisited his history with you? >> yeah, yeah. being able to come here and experience this with him, it's -- words can't describe it. i mean, it's -- it's amazing. >> david: jake ruser and his granddaughter, janet, a teacher. why was it so important for you to travel back with your grandfather? >> this is honestly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. i mean, he is obviously a war hero. he's our family hero. nobody gets to spend this much

time with our 99-year-old grandfather in normandy. so this is really important. >> david: the group helping to bring these veterans back to normandy, the nonprofit forever young veterans, knows how many of these heroes we lose every day. >> do you know why they really want to come back? they want to say to their friends that did not come home, i haven't forgotten you, and i hope i've lived my life where you're proud of me. >> david: 80 years ago to the day -- the american heroes returning to the beaches here. >> you're the hero. thank you. >> thank you very much. thank you. >> david: and the strangers who gathered here to say thank you. gratitude for their sacrifice 80 years after they landed here. we'll be right back. detect this:

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>> david: tonight, before we go, on this 80th anniversary of d-day we should note that over the course of the last five years, we have lost some of the veterans we've been following. their families telling us, please keep their stories alive, too. they also told us they are grateful that many of their loved ones' brothers were still able to return to normandy. while here on the ground, so many of the veterans we have met are so moved by the strangers here coming up to them to say thank you, telling those american heroes, they changed the course of history. i'm david muir. from all of us here at abc news, good night from normandy.