World War II veteran Jake Larson meets youths during ceremonies at the US cemetery to commemorate the 81st anniversary of the D-Day landings, Friday, June 6, 2025 in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy.

Veterans gathered Friday in Normandy to mark the 81st anniversary of D-Day. Along the coastline and near the D-Day landing beaches, tens of thousands of onlookers attended the commemorations.

D-Day veteran ″Papa Jake″ Larson, who survived German gunfire on Normandy's bluffs in 1944 and then garnered 1.2 million ...

American WWII veteran Gideon Kantor attends ceremonies at the US cemetery to commemorate the 81st anniversary of the D-Day landings, Friday, June 6, 2025 in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy.

Jack Claiborne, 95, is headed back to Normandy, France, for the 75th anniversary of D-Day. ABC News Jack Claiborne , 95, of Dyersburg, Tennessee, drove the troops to Omaha Beach on LCI 492.

American WWII veteran Gideon Kantor attends ceremonies at the US cemetery to commemorate the 81st anniversary of the D-Day landings, Friday, June 6, 2025 in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy.

American WWII veteran Gideon Kantor attends ceremonies at the US cemetery to commemorate the 81st anniversary of the D-Day landings, Friday, June 6, 2025 in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy.

American WWII veteran Gideon Kantor attends ceremonies at the US cemetery to commemorate the 81st anniversary of the D-Day landings, Friday, June 6, 2025 in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy.