davis, "don't know much about history" author, among others. many experts have been commemorating the d-day invasion, really since ronald reagan, some 30 years ago. but so different for reagan. he was paying respects really to people of his own age. as time passes, our direct connection to these men dwindles. >> absolutely. i'm reminded that bill clinton, when he went, spoke to the noted british historian john keegan and had to really get a fill-in on what had happened there, of course. we are removed from it. war slips into that black hole that we unfortunately call american history. this event was part of my father's, my parents' generation. i grew up with it from the longest day through "saving private ryan," it's been part of our legend, the mythology of war stories we tell. but one of the real problems, i think, in talking about world war ii and history is that we have lost the sense of personal involvement that was so true for americans during that time. war was in every household during world war ii. we're very much removed from it now. so, this has receded into the past. it's getting a little bit far away, but we cannot forget what these