On March 10, 2025, I will stand at the Normandy American Cemetery, a place where over 9,000 Americans rest—men who crossed the cold waters of the English Channel and stormed the beaches of France to push back the shadow of tyranny. At 4:30 PM, the sound of Taps will rise over these hallowed grounds, carrying across the rows of white crosses and Stars of David, echoing through time. It will have been exactly 29,497 days since June 6, 1944—D-Day—the moment the tide of history shifted.
A Number That Holds the Weight of History
29,497 days. Nearly 81 years. More than a lifetime for many who fought on that fateful day. Yet, in the vast sweep of history, it is but a blink. The echoes of that battle, the sacrifice of those young men, remain as vivid today as they were on that windswept morning when they left their landing craft and waded through fire to secure a fragile foothold on freedom’s shore.
This number—29,497—is not just a count of days but a reminder of the unbroken line of memory. Every sunrise that has come and gone since D-Day has been shaped by the choices made on that shore. Every freedom we enjoy, every moment of peace, is tethered to the price paid by those who never saw home again.
Taps: A Sound That Bridges the Years
The 24 mournful notes of Taps are not just a song—they are a conversation between past and present, between the living and the dead. When I play it at Normandy, I will not only be honoring those beneath the soil but also acknowledging the weight of those 29,497 days—the burden of history, the passage of time, and the responsibility we carry to remember.
In a world where history fades too easily into abstraction, where the lessons of sacrifice are often drowned in the noise of the present, playing Taps at Normandy is a declaration: we have not forgotten. We cannot forget.
Why This Matters Now
As we approach the 81st anniversary of D-Day, the generation who fought there has almost entirely passed from our midst. Soon, there will be no firsthand voices to tell us what happened—only the silence of their absence. It falls to us, the living, to keep the memory alive, to ensure that their sacrifice is not just a chapter in a history book but a living testament that still speaks.
On March 10, 2025, when the final note of Taps lingers in the Normandy air, it will not be an ending. It will be a continuation of that legacy—one that stretches across 29,497 days and into the future. Because as long as we remember, as long as we honor, they will never be forgotten.