It's D-Day, Never Forget

June 6, 1944, was a “day of days”. At least that’s how they described it 82 years ago. If you follow Alex Kershaw on X, every year he tweets about D-Day. I like that we have historians who do that on certain days. On September 11, Ari Fleischer does the same thing. He was President Bush’s press secretary.

I was privileged to serve on the Board of Trustees for the National World War Two Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana. I served from 2009 to 2016. It was a true honor. I enjoy going back to the museum when I can. When I joined the board, two buildings had been built. The Louisiana Pavilion and the Solomon Victory Theatre, but they had big plans.

It’s finished now. It is amazing.

If you haven’t been there, you need to go. At every single Lincoln Day Dinner across Nevada, I bought a table for the local Republican organization, and I donated a book. That book was about how the National World War Two Museum was built. It’s quite a story, and it started with a couple of glasses of sherry being consumed by Stephen Ambrose and Nick Mueller in the backyard.

In every political campaign across America, candidates like to tout that they are endorsed by this or that veterans organization. It’s usually a lot of hot air and about the candidate, not the veterans. I think you are what you measure, and documented track records speak a lot louder than hot air.

If you don’t respect and want the best for veterans, I don’t think you should be running for any political office.

What did I do as a trustee?

Number one, we raised money to build out the museum. Another thing a trustee does is recruit new trustees, and I recruited two.

However, the most satisfying thing I did as a trustee was to make sure that the people who worked at the museum were doing everything necessary to preserve the memories and heritage of the American citizen soldiers who volunteered to save the world. The museum also helps people learn about why that war happened, what happened, and what happened after the war. History doesn’t repeat, but it often rhymes.

They were indeed “The Greatest Generation”. Tom Brokaw was right. That doesn’t mean America can’t have great generations again. It has, and it will. Many of them walk among us today and fought in Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq/Afghanistan. The museum makes sure future generations learn about what it takes to be great.

I can assure you that the people who work at the museum never lose sight of the mission. It is their core mission to preserve the memories and make them relatable to everyone today.

I think they are the greatest staff of any museum in the world. From the President right down to the volunteers.

People will ask me what highlights of serving on that board are, and I have a few. Because of my involvement with the museum, I was able to meet a lot of amazing people from history books, like the Doolittle Raiders.

Once, I took a man named Norman Stavroff through a special POW exhibit at the museum. He was in Stalag Luft 1, and was shot down over the Falaise Gap. He told me about a violin a guy had crafted in the POW camp. When I showed him the exact violin, he broke down in tears and told me his entire POW story. His wife told me he never told anyone outside of his family that story before. Norman has passed away now, but his story will never die. I have a video of it on a hard drive.

When I left the board, I got a hop in a P51 Mustang. Charlotte’s Chariot. Dan Fordice owned and flew it. He recently passed away. He started a Warrior Bonfire project I donated to. I play golf with the coin Dan gave me.

The most special relationship I ever made was with a man named Walter Ehlers. On this day 82 years ago, Walt waded ashore in the “back half of the first wave”, as he used to say, at Omaha Beach. Amazingly, none of the people under his guidance were wounded or killed. Walt used to joke that it was his “third amphibious landing”. He landed in Africa and fought there. He landed in Sicily and fought there.

At Omaha, his brother was killed right down the beach from where he landed. A Nazi 88 hit their landing craft.

Walt received the Medal of Honor for his actions on June 9-10 in Goville, France. Every D-Day, I always remember him. I was lucky that he let me be his friend.

His daughter and I are still friends. She runs education for the National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington, Texas. It’s a place I hope to visit someday since I have known quite a few of the recipients there.

I hope you take a moment today and remember what happened 82 years ago. There were plenty of other battles that Americans fought in from 1941 to 1945. There are plenty of other battles Americans have fought in from 1776 until today, too. But this one is in the top ten, and it is truly a day of days.

Never forget. Paraphrasing George Patton, “we enjoy our freedom because such men lived”. We were lucky to have them. I was lucky to be on that board. It was and is a true highlight of my life.