Back to Normandy: remembering D-Day, June 6, 1944.

JAMES Eudy hasn't seen the 2002 box-office blockbuster "Saving Private Ryan," nor does he plan to. "I don't need to see someone else's interpretation of combat." said the 85-year-old World War II veteran. "I've seen enough of the real thing."

Eudy was among thousands of veterans and family members and hundreds of Soldiers from U.S. Army, Europe, and elsewhere--who in June attended events commemorating the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings on the beaches of France's Normandy coast.

This trip marked Eudy's fourth in the six decades since he crossed the English Channel and entered France on Christmas Eve. 1944. Time and familiarity, though, appeared to have done little to lessen the emotional impact he experienced as he stood on the beach where so many Soldiers died during the massive invasion called Operation Overlord.

"I have never talked to anybody about what the war was like," said Eudy, who served with the 66th Infantry Division's 264th Regiment during the war. "It's too emotional."

Eudy said he returned to the bluffs overlooking Omaha Beach to honor those who died during U.S. efforts to liberate France and to remind younger generations of the price of freedom, and to thank today's service members for their dedication and sacrifice.

Soldiers from the 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade stationed in Giebelstadt, Germany, formed the nucleus of the D-Day commemoration task force that planned the 60th-anniversary events, said brigade commander COL R. Kirk Lawrence.

Those ceremonies were conducted at the Normandy American Cemetery; Ste. Mere-Eglise, the first French town liberated by U.S. troops; Pointe-duHoc; and Utah Beach.

A paratroop drop near Ste. Mere-Eglise commemorated the June 5, 1944, jump. Twelve C-130 Hercules and four C-17 Globemasters carried more than 600 Soldiers from the 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions, the 75th Ranger Regt., the 173rd Abn. Brigade, and joint special-operations forces to the drop zone, where they landed in full view of spectators.

Following the drop, the Soldiers marched with the crowd toward downtown Ste. Mere-Eglise.

"If you're a paratrooper, you learn about this place from day one," said SFC Peter Crittenden of 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group, who drove from Stuttgart, Germany, with fellow members of his unit to participate in the jump.

During ceremonies at the Normandy American Cemetery, Eudy wore the same uniform he was issued as a private first class during the war.

President George W. Bush and French President Jacques Chirac laid memorial wreaths at the foot of the bronze statue "The Spirit of the American Youth Rising from the Waves."

Following a 21-gun salute that signaled the event's end, many young Soldiers surrounded Eudy, who stood with his wife and son beside him. Some asked for autographs, some thanked him for his service, and some simply stood silently on the sidelines, listening to his reminiscences and weeping along with him, as the enormity of the war's losses once again overcame him.

Though Eudy did not arrive in France until more than six months after D-Day, there was no doubt that he was entering a nation that was still embroiled in war. En route from England to Normandy, Eudy's ship was hit by a German torpedo, killing 803 men. "There was death everywhere," he said. "That devastated our division."

Devastation, though, did not equal defeat. Eudy and the other survivors made it across the channel and from there were sent to St. Laurent-sur-Mer, France, to prevent German forces from advancing.

Army Chief of Staff GEN Peter Schoomaker spoke at the Ranger memorial at Pointe-du-Hoc, where on D-Day 225 rangers had been tasked to climb 100-meter cliffs, virtually straight up, to destroy German gun emplacements.

Some 70 percent of the attack force was injured or killed, but Operation Overlord had succeeded. "Let there be no doubt: Everyone here paid a great price ... and all were changed for the rest of their lives," Schoomaker said. "And we owe them a great debt."

After Schoomaker's remarks, a group of dignitaries placed a wreath at the ranger memorial. Among the participants was retired ranger Len Lommel, who is credited with discovering five heavy German gun emplacements in an apple orchard near the cliffs and leading the assault that destroyed them.

The final ceremonies of the day took place at Utah Beach, the western edge of the massive invasion, where the 4th and 29th Inf. divisions went ashore.

Secretary of Veteran's Affairs Anthony J. Principi told the assembled veterans: "For a moment, you held the future of freedom and America in the palm of your hands, and you did not fail us.

"On this day, in this place, people struggle to find words to express their gratitude. Words will never be enough," Principi said. "On behalf of the 25 million living American veterans, I salute you."