Veterans of D-Day invasion gather in Bedford

BEDFORD -- On June 6, 1944, coxswain Don Englar, U.S. Navy, steered the Higgins Boat landing craft loaded with about 35 men toward Omaha Beach.
The 18-year-old made four such trips that day -- ferrying troops to the killing field where several of the Bedford Boys and so many other soldiers died on D-Day. He

Jeanna Duerscherl | The Roanoke Times

Marine Corps veterans salute as wreaths are placed at the National D-Day Memorial on Monday.

turned 19 years old the next day. He turns 86 today.
"The first trip in was the worst," Englar said Monday, the 67th anniversary of the invasion that opened a new major offensive against German forces in Europe.
"My gunner who was right beside me was cut in half. His body, what was left of it, toppled over into the sea," he said. "He was a good friend of mine, too."
Shrapnel sheared off half of Englar's left ear and nearly ended his life. He gestured toward his neck. "A corpsman reached in there with his hand and saved my life by squeezing on a blood vessel."