Today is the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings. In 2012, I got the chance to visit Normandy Beach and see the landing sites for myself.

The craters are still there. The reminders everywhere. The landscape permanently scarred. As were those ‘lucky’ enough to come home. The horrors they experience we fear to imagine. Sacrifices made we barely comprehend.

This was no Hollywood action movie. War knows no compassion. Violence is indiscriminate. The First World War was meant to be the ‘war that ended all wars’. We’re not doing so well there, are we? Sadly wars still rage around the world.

One day, I pray we learn the lesson.

Sitting in quiet contemplation at the graveyard, I’ve never felt so humble or close to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

We will never forget.