utah beach was an interesting story in and of itself. the problem was, all of the allied beaches had -- there was an eastward current that was strongest off of utah beach. it was a current that ran from the ocean, along the beachfront, pushing them almost a channel. and as the landing craft -- once they were oriented three miles off the beach, having now you bark from the transit and gone in a line to the jumpoff position, two or three miles off the beach, and they make that last -- into the sure. that current pushed them to the left. had the landmarks that were supposed to guide them in terms of finding the beach, that horrific naval bombardment followed almost instantly by the aerial bombardment, meant the beach was completely intrepid and smoke and debris and you could barely see anything, much less make out landmarks. , driving the did higgins boats, they would just aim themselves at the beach and open the throttle. with the current pushing them to the left, they ended up being about a half-mile or even further west of where they were

mark phillips, cbs news on utah beach. you look& and feel.l free to add it to everything you love. and that's clearly fabulous. benefiber. clearly healthy. see benefiber work and save on facebook. are you about to spend that on paper towels? mom: well, i use bounty... kerri: ooo! use sparkle®... it's just right for cleaning up everyday little messes without cleaning out your piggy bank. sparkle®. the bright way to clean. >>> california chrome has drawn the number two post position for saturday's belmont stakes after running away with the kentucky derby and the preakness. the horse is one win away from a the first triple down in 36 years. as michelle miller reports, that would be a much needed boost for the sport. >> reporter: california chrome may be the only one at belmont park who doesn't understand the pressure on his chestnut shoulders. trainer art sherman does. >> it took me 60 years to find one like him. >> reporter: the sport is hurting. since 2004 betting at tracks has dropped $4.2 billion, and in new york state alone, attendance is d

memorial, the 30th battlefield, and we also maintain as a federal resources bill you a portion of utah beach, which is the other american landing area in a tinyre peninsula. >> at the other asked or found out why they call it omaha beach? >> it is radio. they call it o beach or u beach, .imple as that >> did you ever ask yourself why they picked a city? >> i asked myself why they picked two indian names. i have never found a historical reason to reveal really why. beach.ach, u force, u task force. tohow much does it cost maintain the cemetery? >> that depends on capital improvements. maintenance costs, storms, etc. type of not a fixed cost i can give you. >> any average, a million, 2 million -- how long have you been here? >> seven years. >> where are you from? >> upstate new york. a town on the seaway. >> what did you choose to stay in france? my wife is all, french. that's a pretty good reason. it is the nature of the job i with the american battlegrounds commission. i do not think you can find an equivalent anywhere in the united states. the diversity of the job, the language requirement,

memorial, the 30th battlefield, and we also maintain as a federal resources bill you a portion of utah beach, which is the other american landing area west of here in a tiny peninsula. >> have you ever asked or found out why they call it omaha beach? >> it is radio. they call it o beach or u beach, simple as that. >> did you ever ask yourself why they picked a city? >> i asked myself why they picked two indian names. i have never found a historical reason to reveal really why. >> o beach, u beach. >> o task force, u task force. >> how much does it cost to maintain the cemetery? >> that depends on capital improvements. maintenance costs, storms, etc. there is not a fixed type of cost i can give you. >> any average, a million, 2 million -- how long have you been here? >> seven years. >> where are you from? >> upstate new york. a town on the seaway. >> why did you choose to stay in france? >> first of all, my wife is french. that's a pretty good reason. it is the nature of the job i have with the american battlegrounds commission. i do not think you can find an equivalent anywhere in the united

to the west, americans took utah beach with relative ease. to the east, the british tore through the coast, fueled by the fury of five years of bombs over london and a solemn vow to "fight them on the beaches." the canadians, whose shores had not been touched by war, drove far into france. and here, at omaha, troops who finally made it to the seawall used it as shelter -- where a general barked, "if you're rangers, lead the way!" by the end of that longest day, this beach had been fought, lost, refought, and won -- a piece of europe once again liberated and free. hitler's wall was breached, letting loose patton's army to pour into france. within a week, the world's bloodiest beach had become the world's busiest port. within a month, 1 million allied troops thundered through normandy into europe, and as our armies marched across the continent, one pilot said it looked "as if the very crust of the earth had shaken loose." the arc de triomphe lit up for the first time in years, and paris was punctuated by shouts of "vive la france!" and "vive les

he came ashore at utah beach. back, wehe has come said he could have anything he wants for lunch today. he said a hamburger will do fine. what's more american than that? think of the man who sought a recruitment poster asking him if he was man enough to be up very , so he -- a paratrooper signed up on the spot. that decision landed him here with a regiment that would suffer heavy casualties. 70 years later, it is said that all across for bragg they know rock. 91-year-old rock merit still spends his time speaking to the young men and women of the army. whenever the world makes you doubt thatenever you courage and goodness as possible, stop and think of these men. wilson and harry and rock, there here today. i know we already give them a rousing round of applause along with all our veterans of d-day, if you can stand, please stand, let us recognize your service once more. men sacrificed so that we might be free, they fought in hopes of the day when we would no longer need to fight. we are grateful for them. [applaus

he came ashore at utah beach on d-day. now that he has come back, we said he could have anything he wants for lunch today. he helped liberate this coast, after all, but he said a hamburger will do fine. what's more american than that? think of the man who saw a recruitment poster asking him if he was man enough to be a paratrooper, so he signed up on the spot. that decision landed him here with the 508 regiment, a unit that would suffer heavy casualties. 70 years later, it is said that all across fort bragg they know rock. not just for the splits on d-day -- his exploits on d-day or his 35 years, but because 91-year-old rock merit still spends his time speaking to the young men and women of the army. whenever the world makes you cynical, whenever you doubt that courage and goodness is possible, stop and think of these men. wilson and harry and rock, there -- they are here today. although i know we already give -- gave them a rousing round of applause along with all our veterans of d-day, if you can stand, please stand, if

mark phillips, cbs news, on utah beach. >> dubois: and that is the "cbs evening news" for tonight.or joining us. have a good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >>> your realtime captioner is linda macdonald. >>> candidates duke it out in the primary elections some spending hundreds of thousands of dollars. but big money didn't guarantee a ticket to november. good evening. some candidates who spent the least amount of money are moving forward. our phil matier talked to one guy who spent less than $5,000. phil. >> reporter: that's right. in this case, it might be the biggest story or one of the biggest stories out of election was the guy with the smallest bankroll. here's the story. >> reporter: his campaign headquarters is his family car. his field operations, a few supporters meeting in an office park coffee shop. still republican hugh bussel beat well financed long-time democratic state senator ellen corbett and winning the right to challenge incumbent democratic congressman eric swalwell in the fall. even more surprising? >>

here are some scenes landing on the utah beach and this is went ashore. this is again the british beep, didn't dash ashore after being aboard a landing they for five sold i days, just walked slowly and fearful of bombs and were in the area. they had their rifles wrapped in cellophane. is the way we had to go ashore, and i need not tell you that a lot of the boys didn't make it. here's one of the famous scenes taken from black and white film of two men being shot down right before your eyes. wes carryingand our own equipment, and the ship beach.nded on the the beach we were on was being attacked by enemy fire. in the previous shot you could see a bomb land not too were.om where we right tryings were to clear roads. as itea was quite cold, usually is in that part of normandy. fox hoe is aheir little deeper and we had the concretef finding a wall that helped seven as when the tide went not come ins could close, or those that went aground had to wait for high refloated if they weren't hit. we stayed on the beach the first hole.and lived in a fox and soon, we

utah beaches and omaha. and gold and juni and sword beaches. aljazeera's dana lewis is at sword beach where the ceremony was just held. and the scene of today's memorial could not be more different than it was on that day 70 years ago. >> that's an understatement. there were fireworks here a few years ago, and you could magnify that by 1,000, and imagine the sights and sounds here in the early morning hours as the british soldiers were coming to sword beach, which was more lightly defended than other ones, but not long after leaching the beach, they had to fight hard with the canadians they had to go to the city which was destroyed in the days following d-day. here you had this tremendous armada off the beach, the largest ever put together. u.s. warships, british warships, firing the big guns, trying to take out the german positions, and softening up the beaches they called it for americans going into omaha and utah and the canadians to juni and the british on gold and sword. but that largely failed, so when the u.s. soldiers came on the beache

to the west, americans took utah beach with relative ease. to the east, the british tore through the coast, fueled by the fury of five years of bombs over london and a solemn vow to fight them on the beaches. the canadians, whose shores had not been touched by war, drove far into france. and here at omaha, troops who finally made it to the sea wall used it as shelter, where a general barked, "if you're rangers, lead the way." by the end of that longest day, this beach had been fought, lost, refought, and won. a piece of europe once again liberated and free. hitler's wall was breached, letting loose patton's army to pour into france. within a week, the world's bloodiest beach had become the world's busiest port. within a month, 1 million allied troops thundered through normandy into europe. and as our armies marched across the continent, one pilot said it looked as if the very crust of the earth had shaken loose. the arc de triomphe lit up for the first time in years, and paris was punctuated by shouts of "vive la france, vive la statunis." of

and that's more than were killed in the actual landings on utah beach on d-day.t concerned eyes and house are almost as much was the loss of three lst's on the ee of the invasion, before there were literally none to spare. he immediately notified the joint chiefs that he needed three more lst's and of course there were none to be had, and even if there were, they could not get there in time. in the end for this and other reasons, d-day was postponed from may until the first week of june, and even then, the dearth critical --came a remains a critical concern. at last we come to the operational phase and you have been very patient to wait to get to this. the traditional explanation of allied success on d-day is the allied armada was so huge in the plan was so perfect and so detailed, the germans were simply overwhelmed by the power and the size of it. that is mostly true, counting these smaller landing craft, the so-called higgins boats. -- counting the smaller landing craft, the so-called higgins boats, 5000 boats depart. it was by far the largest maritime force e

. ♪ on utah beach a tribute to the americans that landed 70 years ago. >> they were willing to sacrificeverything for the greater good of humanity. thank god that they did. >> reporter: the people of normandy are welcoming back their liberators with parades and flags. invoking memories with chiefs in uniforms, honoring the heroes of d-day, tributes in the air. american jim martin parachuted into normandy as a 23-year-old private in the first airborne. today he did it again. >> what made me do it today? a little bit of ego because i'm 93 and i can still do it. >> reporter: back then 13,000 paratroopers dropped behind enemy lawns and a dawn in rough seas, the largest invading force assembled hit the beach. >> everything was pretty bad. >> reporter: andy anderson is back with students from the college of the ozarks, one generation teaching another what happened on that bloody day. >> i can hear the first infantry guys moaning, oh, my god. 4 >> reporter: when you see these kids now, they are the same age you were when you -- >> you know, our generation, it was so different that they have no

to the west americans took utah beach with relative ease. to the east the british tore through the coast fueled by the foo you ary of five years of bombs over london and a solemn vow to fight them on the beaches. the canadians whose shores had not been touched by war drove far into france. and here at omaha, troops who finally made it to the sea wall used it as shelter where a general bart "if you're rangers, lead the way." by the end of that longest day, this beach had been fought lost, refought and won. a piece of europe once again liberated and free. hitler's wall was breached letting loose patton's army to pour into france. within a week the world's bloodiest beach had had become the world's busiest port. within a month, 1 million allied troops thundered through normandy into europe. and as our armies marched across the continent, one pilot said it looked as if the very crust of the earth had shaken loose. the arc di triomphe lit up for the first time in years to shouts of "vive de france." [ speaking in french ] of course even as we gath

the american army hand at omaha and utah beaches about the i can gold, juneau and sword beaches, danaas been reporting from sword beach all day where the international ceremony was held, dana. >> reporter: high stephanie, on sword beach is where the british soldiers landed and the resystems was quite lied compared to some of the other beaches as they went up the road they ran in to a division and heavy fighting. the americans to the west at home ma beach and at one point in the early initial hours of assault there were so many soldiers getting cut down by jeff man gunfire that general bradley start today think that the battle plan was failing and starting to come apart and american commanders not necessarily panicking, but extremely concerned that point. president obama speaking of the soldiers and calling them heros and mentioned one veteran wilson bill caldwell who said he couldn't pilot a plane because he didn't have a high school did diploma so in the end he decided to jump out of a plane. interestingly enough we met up with bill caldwell two days ago, we didn't know he would be t

military lost more lives practicing to land on utah beach than actually died there on d-day. >> thisle of the night, of course, 1:30. >> reporter: 94-year-old doug harlander was there. a 24th at the time aboard an american landing trip called an lst. april 28th was to be the full dress rehearsal. eight landing ships loaded with thousands of troops assembled in the bay, but in a major error, the convoy's shunprotected ship was forced back for repairs. german patrol boats spotted them and after 2:00 a.m. the unprotected convoy came under fire. when 507 got hit, what did you see? >> all i saw is the big flash and you could see all of a sudden it's on fire. >> reporter: minutes later harlander's ship was ripped apart by two torpedos in quick succession. she sank in about six minutes. >> when i got in the water, the thing was cold. 44 degrees. and that's cold, cold water. i could move my elbows, my knees, but i couldn't move my fingers, they were standing straight up. >> reporter: harlander hung onto a life raft for hours until a british ship fished him out of the water. >> so they gave m

harry came ashore at utah beach on d-day. and now that he's come back we said he could have anything he wants for lunch today. he helped liberate this coast, after all. he said a hamburger will do fine. what's more american than that? think of rock merritt who saw a recruitment poster asking him if he was man enough to be a paratrooper, so he signed up on the spot. and that decision landed him here on d-day with the 508th regiment a unit that would suffer heavy casualties. and 70 years later, it's said that all across ft. bragg, they know rock. not just for his exploits on d-day or his 35 years in the army but because 91-year-old rock merritt still spends his time speaking to the young men and women of today's army. and still bleeds o.d. green for his 82nd airborne. whenever the world makes you cynical cynical, whenever you doubt that courage and goodness is possible, stop and think of these men. wilson and harry and rock they are here today. and although i know we already gave them a rousing round of applause along with all

today, on utah beach, it looked like it could have been 70 years ago, except for the lack of incoming fire. but this army wasn't american. the voices are french. they marched to sainte mere eglise, where the 82nd aish had dropped in to cut off any potential german counter-attack. to where roland daniel had been. >> we were in 35 days, so you can imagine the amount of people we lost, and i just never dealt with it. so this is helping me. ( applause ) >> reporter: this commemoration was a last chance to say thank you in person to many of the veterans. ( applause ) and by some of the world's most famous people, the british queen, the only head of state here who served in the war in anaxilry support unit. by presidents and by the current leader of germany. a lot has changed in 70 years. angela merkel was applauded as a friend. of the 16 million people who served in the second world war, the national world war ii museum estimates just over a million are still alive, and they're passing on at about 550 a day, and that, maurice, is what makes this commemoration so important. >> dubois: mark

. >> reporter: to honor the heroes, parachutists jumped out of aircraft over utah beach, including 89-year-old veteran, jock hutton. president obama is among a number of world leaders on-hand. as well as britain's queen elizabeth and prince charles. tensions over the ukraine crisis hover over the anniversary. russian president vladimir putin is also at the gathering. president obama is trying to get putin to stop provocations along the ukraine border. but it's not clear if he'll have a face-to-face meeting with the russian leader. last night in paris, the french president kept the two men apart, by having two separate commemoration dinners. but mr. obama hinted he may bump into putin. >> i have no doubt that i'll see mr. putin. and he and i have always had a business-like relationship. >> reporter: president obama is the fifth u.s. president to visit the beaches of normandy. more than 9,000 americans are buried in cemeteries there. tahman bradley, abc news, washington. >> tahman, thank you. >>> and one more image from france taken this morning on omaha beach. a lone american flag plac

. >> deck we are was there landing with his army cam rods and utah beach three days after the initialult. he remembers the carnage. >> barricades in the water and barbed wire and shell holes and it was -- everything was in diss i was rash. >> reporter: d-day was the beginning of a massive allied push into and through france, belgium and finally nazi germa germany. decker was involved in four major battles along the way carrying little -- carrying little about the global implications. >> i was 19 years old and i tell you i could careless about anything. >> just trying to survive? >> that's right. i think that's why i did survi survive. i never -- never worried about anything. >> reporter: i asked deck we are whether he was ever afraid. >> thinking about doing what you had to do and -- >> reporter: no time to be afraid. >> no, no. most of the time you were afraid after it happened. wondering how you survived it. >> reporter: decker was among the gets at a seaport museum d-day remembrance that included the display of a 48 star american flag that flew aboard one of the boats and equipment

today french school children posed for pictures at utah beach with signs spelling out thank you.eterans are gathering to remember a long with plenty of tourists wearing world war ii era uniforms. among many marking the anniversary is brian, who will begin anchoring the special coverage from there tomorrow night. brian, good evening. >> reporter: ann, good evening from omaha beach and a very good friend of ours called these men the greatest generation for good reason. they are starting to, those able to travel, come back here for the 70th anniversary of the event, the invasion on these beaches that change the course of world war ii and many say saved the world. we'll have all of it from here including the gathering of president and the ceremony 70 years since d-day. see you later this week. ann, back to you. >> brian, thank you so much. remember, brian will anchor special coverage of the 70th anniversary of d-day tomorrow night. >>> tonight, the closing chapter in world war ii history with the passing of the last of the original code talkers. chester nez was part of the 382th plat

military lost more lives practicing to land on utah beach than actually died there on d- day. >> thisddle of the night, of course. >> reporter: 94-year-old doug harlander was there. a 24-year-old ensign at the time aboard an american landing ship called an l.s.t. april 28 was to be the full dress rehearsal. eight landing ships loaded with thousands of troops assembleed in the bay, but in a major error, the convoy's well-armed escort ship was forced back to port for repairs. german patrol boats spotted the l.s.d.s and just after 2:00 a.m. the unprotected convoy came under fire. l.s.t.-507 was struck by the first torpedo. when 507 got hit, what did you see? >> all the saw was the big flash. you could see all of a sudden it's on fire. >> reporter: minutes later, harlander's ship was ripped apart by two torpede nose quick succession. she sank in about six minutes. >> when i got in the water, the thing was cold, 44 degrees. and that's cold, cold water. i could move my elbows, my knees, but i couldn't move my fingers. they were just straight out. >> reporter: harlander hung on to a life raf

he landed on the same patch of land he did 70 years ago just behind utah beach. ( applause ) martin tolding in the plane is boring. when you get off the plane, he said, it gets exciting. >> a little bit of ego because i'm 93, and i can still do it. and, also, i just wanted to show all the people that you don't have to sit and die just because you get old. keep doing things. >> dubois: you bet. another d-day veteran returned to normandy this week to complete a mission. that story is next. ♪ roundup ♪ i'm a loving husband and a real good dad ♪ ♪ but weeds just make me rattlesnake mad ♪ ♪ well roundup has a sharp-shootin' wand ♪ ♪ i'm sendin' them weeds to the great beyond ♪ ♪ roundup yeha! [ whip cracks ] ♪ ♪ no need to pump, just point and shoot ♪ ♪ hit 'em in the leaves, and it kills to the root ♪ ♪ 'round fences, trees, even mulched beds ♪ ♪ 'cause the only good weed is a weed that's dead ♪ ♪ roundup yeha! [ whip cracks ] [ male announcer ] roundup... [ whip cracks ] with a one-touch wand. [ male announcer ] roundup... [ whip cracks ] you wouldn't have it she any other way.our toes. but

here are some scenes of the landing on the utah beach. this is how they went to sure. as the british beach. did you notice that the men did not -- to shore after being on a landing craft or five solid days? -- the men did not dash to shore after being on a landing craft for five solid days. a lot of the boys did not make it. here is pete carroll and haynes carrying the equipment and the ship is grounded on the beach. the section of the beach we were on was attacked by enemy fire. in the previous shot, you could see the bomb landing not far from where we were. there it is again. the bulldozers were trying to clear roads to let our tanks move forward. even though it was june, the area was quite cold, as it usually is in that part of normandy. men dug foxholes a little deeper. there was a concrete wall that helped serve as protection. even now, we are taking some of the wounded back to the beach so that it can be transferred -- so that they can be transferred. those who went to ground had to wait. soon, we had some of the first prisoners taken in the area on the first day.

to the west, americans took utah beach with relative ease. he british tore through the coast fueled by the fury of five years of bombs over london and a solemn vow to fight them on the beaches. the canadians, whose shores had not been touched by war, drove far into france. and here, in omaha, troops who finally made it to the sea wall used it as shelter. lead the way. by the end of that longest day, this beach had been fought, lost, refought, and won. a piece of europe, once again, liberated and free. hitler's wall was breached patton's army to pour into france. within a week, the world's bloodiest beach had become the world's busiest port. within a month, 1 million allied troops tore through and as our armies marched across the continue innocent one said it looked as though the very crust of the earth had shicken loose. -- shaken loose. paris was punctuated by shouts le france. [applause] of course, even as we gather here at normandy, we remember the freedom's victory was made possible by so many others who wore america's uniform. two years b

eight infantry land at utah beach. >>> welcome back to al jazeera america's live coverage of the 70th anniversary of d-day. david shuster, and stephanie sy. you are looking at pictures of the memorial, the remembrance, and a flyover. francis hollande spoke for about 25 minutes. more all of you wondering - there's ceremonial shots - about the health of whether it's the queen who is 88 or veterans in their '90s, sitting in the beach. it's 77 degrees, 50% humidity, and 17 mile per hour preez coming in from the -- breeze coming in from the ocean. >> and they are under the shade. >> i want to bring in our guest here to talk about what we are seeing here on the screen. they've been doing re-enactments on the beach for the last couple of days. what were we seeing there in the last pictures? >> i think they are trying to replicate the number of people on the beaches in the first few days. especially this one in particular. youth of different countries likely for the shot. >> they have the inner map showing the english channels and the continent of europe and people in the boot of egypt. they

to the west, americans took utah beach with relative ease. through the coast fueled by the fury of five years of bombs over london and a solemn vow to fight them on the beaches. the canadians, whose shores had not been touched by war, drove far into france. and here, at omaha, troops who finally made it to the sea wall used it as shelter, where a general barked, if you're rangers, lead the way. by the end of that longest day, this beach had been fought, lost, refought and won. a piece of europe, once again, liberated and free. hitler's wall was breached, letting loose patton's army to pour into france. within a week, the world's bloodiest beach had become the world's busiest port. within a month, 1 million allied troops thundered through normandy into europe. as our armys marched across the continent, one pilot said it looked as if the very crust of the earth had shaken loose. the ark d-- arc de triumph lit p for the first time in years. of course even as we gather here at normandy, we remember that freedom's victory was also made possible by

harry came ashore at utah beach on d-day. that he has come back he said you could have anything you want for lunch today. helped liberate the coast after all. he said a hamburger would do fine. what's more american than that? think of rock mare who saw a recruitment poster asking him if he was man enough to be a para trooper. he signed up on the spot. that decision landed him here on d-day with 508th regimen the unit that would suffer heavy casualties. 70 years later it is said all across fort bragg they know ryan not just because of his exploits on d-day but because the 91-year-old still spends his time talking to the young men and women speaking to young people. whenever the world makes you sin kel, whenever you doubt that courage and goodness is possible, stop and think of these men. wilson, harry and rock, they are here today, and although i know we already gave them a rousing round of applause along with all of our veterans at d-day if you could stand, if not please raise your hand let us recognize your service once more

addressing veterans and those gathered at the american cemetery just on the edge of omaha beach and utah beach where american forces made their first pitch into the invasion in northern france. here with the french president that is overlooking -- after he delivered a stirring address about the efforts, the courage, the bravery and the challenges facing american troops in particular at this very spot and what was one of most hard fought moments for the troops. breaking ground on to firm land in france. now, president obama will shortly be moving on to not very far from one of guests by the lunch being provided by the french president. there are tens of thousands who have gathered along the normandy coast to commemorate this very special day. with me is jonathan marcus, jonathan every year, it's a special year, of course, for the veterans concerned in particular, their families, their friends. when you hit a big milestone like this, it brings it all home, i suppose. >> it does absolutely. the 70th anniversary, many of these veterans are very elderly gentlemen. this is going to be the last large

he was one of those who landed on utah beach on d-day saying he got out, ran and jumped over over bodieshis grandson notes his grandfather was awarded the bronze star. he intends to hang his diploma on a wall in his home. >> long time coming. >>> 7 people shot in a bay area neighborhood, coming up in 2 minutes we will go live as the investigation continues into last night's multiple shooting. >> putting a name with a face. what it means for the search for a suspect attacking a store clerk. >> getting ready for the football season. the dry run held today at levi stadium in the south bay. >>> download the ktvu ipad pap to watch newscasts, weather and breaking news, anytime anywhere. ñsxóxgñ >>> returning to the shooting last night in antioch that injured 7 people. ktvu's 359y l joins us -- patti lee joins us live with what neighbors are saying. >> reporter: the party took place here in this house behind me. it is not parent there was party -- apparent there was a party near, or a crime scene. a helicopter and four ambulances. neighbors say there was a crowd outside and in the garage when t

veteran got the chance to relive the moment, 83-year-old jim martin, completed a tandem jump on the utah beach in western france. the commemoration takes place tomorrow morning. and you can find it right her. we will see you at 11:00. >> talk to aljazeera only on al jazeera america welcome to al jazeera america. here are tonight's top stories. there's been a fatal shooting on a college campus in seattle. one victim has died of his wounds three others are being treated. police say they do have a suspect in custody. president obama defended his decision to -- he made the comments from lawmaker whose question whether the president should have notified them first, mr. obama said he will not apologize for bringing home an american. an treatment has been made to reach the authority to fire anyone suspected of misconduct in the v.a. veterans will also be able to visit private doctors to get faster care. acting secretary of care has visited the phoenix facility where 1700 were unable to get medical treatment. he took over from former secretary who resigned last week, those are the headlines, america t

int is more than were killed the actual landings on utah beach on d-day. should what concerned eisenhower almost as much was the loss of three lst's on the eve of the invasion. there were literally none to spare. he merely notified the joint chiefs that he needed three more. there are none to be had. they were very patient to wait to get to this before. success is that the allied armada was so huge in the plan so perfect and detailed that the germans were simply overwhelmed by the size of it. true.s mostly vessels in000 operation. the very near run thing. they have positions on a line of blood about the high -- about a half mile from the beach. i had ground that covered every inch of that single. invading soldiers found the shoreline crowded with blinding of structure and spirit soon it was littered with direct landing craft and a dead or dying in. when i had ating 6:40 a.m. and almost at once ran into a hurricane of violence. this is one of the photographs taken on the day. you can see both the beach in the near foreground and then the high bluffs beyond

normandy there were special parachute jumps by veterans. 93-year old american jim martin jumped near utah beach wonderful. >> woodruff: was it different? >> oh yes, nobody shooting at me. it's much nicer. >> woodruff: 89-year-old scotsman jock hutton took a tandem jump into the very same field in ranville, france, where he landed 70 years ago. >> we trained for months and months and months and we landed with one purpose in mind and that was to liberate ranville, which we did before first light. >> woodruff: back in the united states today, veterans attended a ceremony at the d-day memorial in bedford, virginia. bob sales from madison heights, virginia was in the first wave of soldiers to land. his wife spoke for him today. >> we have to make sure there might never come a day when june the 6th means no more than any other day, that there might never be a generation of americans for whom the name normandy means nothing at all. >> woodruff: to enshrine that history, the national world war two memorial in washington was built ten years ago. today, veterans laid wreaths in front of the wall of gold

by no means were the casualties light, but they were less than anticipated at utah beach, which was the furthest right invasion. the british and the canadians had a tough time of it, the ibm of june 6, they're a canadian troops as far as six months in length. there is quite a disparity between the resistance that these allied leaders found and their ability to push inland and that is the trick in innovation. you want to get in as far as you can come as quickly as you can, five-mile s'more you want to push the enemy's artillery so they can't show the beach. that is when you are most vulnerable coming across the beach and a omaha beach it took several days to get to that point. but nevertheless, it turns out to be quite successful in the casualties while talking 3000 or so deaths altogether, they are lighter than many had feared. [inaudible conversations] >> or final author presentation of the days sure greenberg. he begins out live on booktv in the 30th annual printers row lit fest. [inaudible conversations] >> okay, everyone. good afternoon. hope everyone has had a good day at the greg

. >> and today at 93 years young, he parachuted on to utah beach as part of a reenactment, saying thisobody was shooting at him. well, this has been fantastic. >> it really, really has been. >> my first summer sidekick. >> i really, really appreciate it. by the way, the bear story, i think there was an update on that, but too late. >> well, it's too late. we'll tell about it later. i'm gretchen. >> and i'm charles. here's faulkner in for shep. she's next. >>> hi, guys, i am harris faulkner if for shepard smith and this is the fox news desk. ahead, the bowe bergdahl prison swap. new allegations that he once declared himself a holy warrior for islam. >>> and we'll take you live to qatar, the new home of the guantanamo bay detainees who are exchanged for bergdahl's release. >>> also, 70 years after allied troops storm the beaches of normandy, we are remembering their heroism and their sacrifice. we'll take you there for the ceremony, the memories, and a look back at a day that changed the course of human events.

to the west, americans took utah beach with relative ease. to the east, the british went over the coast. and a solemn vow to fight them on the beaches. the canadians whose shores have not been touched by war drove far into france. and here at omaha, troops who finally made it to the seawall used it as shelter, where general bart, if you're rangers, lead the way. >> most of the survivoring veterans of d-day, they're now in their late 80s or 90s. this is probably going to be one of the last times we'll see so many of them together. >>> meantime, the white house is standing by comments that sergeant bowe bergdahl served the country with, quote, honor and distinction. in an exclusive interview with our senior white house correspondent jim acosta, the national senior adviser to the president susan rice defended her remarks about bergdahl and the deal for freedom. she said taking the time to notify congress could have put bergdahl's life in jeopardy. >> we were very concerned about the well being of bowe better doll who had been in captive for five

on utah beach on the other hand, the men of the fourth u.s. ision take the beach in less than an hour. on gold and june divisions, the british 50th division and the canadian third division, after heavy fighting, manage to make their way inland. here on sword beach, the british third division infantry troops quickly take control. the crab tanks open paths through the mine feleds. a soldier plays the bagpipes throughout the assault. the french naval fuse leers of river mando take the bella casino, transformed into a fortified bunker. ♪ let me live again let me et me live again let me let me live ♪ >> by the evening of june 6, 132,000 men and about 20,000 vehicles have landed on the beaches. operation overlord has been successful. a strip of land a few kilometers wide is enough to accommodate the allied beachhead, which is growing tronger by the hour. [bagpipes playing] [applause] that morning, general eisenhower announces the normandy landings to the world. >> people of western europe. a landing was made this morning on the coast of france by tro

to the west, americans took utah beach with relative ease.e british tour through the coast.- tore through the canadians, who shores had not been touched by war, drove far into france. , troops who omaha finally made it to the seawall used to the shelter, where a general barked, rangers lead the way. day,e end of that longest the speech had been fought, lost, re-pfought and won. a piece of europe once again, liberated and free. hitler's wall was breached, letting loose patton's army to pour into france. within a week, the world's bloodiest beach had become the busiest port. within a month, one million allied troops poured through normandy. if pilot said it looked as the very crust of the earth had shaken loose. arc de to try out -- triumph lit up for the first time in years. [applause] freedom's victory is made possible by so many others who are freedoms uniform. eisenhower's troops through north africa. three times before d-day, our gis stormed the beaches of sicily, salerno. 36isions like the fighting moved through italy, fighting through th

and i had the chance to visit a few years ago, without thinking of my father-in-law who landed on utah beach the second day of the normandy invasion. he said after the first day, it was much easier to get on the beach, but the effort then to clear out the german army in the hedgerows right behind the beach was murderous work and very dangerous but thankfully, he came home, like so many, as part of that greatest generation who helped build america into the powerhouse we are today. my father-in-law just recently passed away at age 96, believe it or not. he lived a long, long rewarding life, but i can't let the occasion pass without remembering him as one of those brave men who stormed the beaches at normandy 70 years ago. of course, there is another chilling number and that is 50 million when we think about world war ii. 50 million people lost their lives during world war ii. the bloodiest conflict in the history of the world. 50 million people. during world war ii, of course, we recall the brutal dictators, totalitarian ideologies threatened the very existence of the civilized world, and we'r

i just want to say, my dad was a survivor of utah beach. he was on the uss cole. the only ship sunk in an invasion. when i was growing up, my dad didn't talk about it. he just told me, steve, we were sunk. i didn't complete my mission. he did complete his mission. first ship in there. i'm so proud of him. right before gabrielle giffords got shot, i was researching my dad stuff. because he never talked about it. gabrielle giffords had a big celebration, produced all his awards, four brown star. turns out he was 3.5 hours in the north atlantic. then they started telling me the stories. it's funny, that generation, they were so proud but but yet, my dad was embarrassed. he thought he failed. that's all i want to say. i wanted to say that, he was on the uss, the only ship sunk. that ship that led the invasion. god bless america. host: that was steve in tucson, arizona. our center channel, book tv, which is c-span 2 on the weekends, has covered a lot of world war ii backs. rick at -- atkinson who won the pulitzer for world war ii. there's so many more backs at book tv.