WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — On June 6, 2019, it’ll have been 75 years since the D-Day Invasion that was the beginning of the end of World War II.
As an early salute to that anniversary, a squadron of C-47s flew over the Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery at noon Friday.
“It’s great to see the old aircraft still flying,” said Tom Donovan, a veteran and former naval aviator from Arlington, Virginia.
Five C-47s took off from Frederick, Maryland, and flew to the nation’s capital Friday as a salute to the fallen ahead of the D-Day anniversary. Donovan said he was humbled to witness the event.
“As our veterans from that war pass – and very few of them are alive today – it’s just great today…it’s great that they are remembered by these wonderful vintage World War II aircraft,” he added.
Approximately 13,000 paratroopers were dropped behind enemy lines in Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944.
Chuck Kramarick of Warrenton, Virginia, said the flyover was “a good way to recognize those veterans that served in the armed forces during that time, and even currently.”
Later this month, the C-47s will cross the Atlantic to participate in the celebrations in the skies over Normandy.
“Any time we get to see the American air power it’s a wonderful time,” Kramarick said.
For Americans of all ages lucky enough to be here in Washington, it was a soaring tribute to the Greatest Generation.