OMAHA BEACH, France — The Clearwater Composite Squadron Civil Air Patrol spent the day in Normandy, France, to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of D-Day.
The squadron was selected as the official Civil Air Patrol Color Guard for the 2024 ceremony. The Civil Air Patrol in Clearwater is a composite squadron that has both cadet and senior members. The patrol focuses on aerospace education and preparing members for missions and emergency services.
The squadron participated in the commemoration ceremony at Brittany American Cemetery in honor of the lives lost at Normandy.
"Today was the D-Day's 80th anniversary, and so we participated in a ceremony there with a number of JROTC organizations, a number of bands from all over America, choirs from all over America as well. They were there to honor the fallen. There was 4,404 American soldiers that are buried there at that cemetery, as well as a wall memorializing 500 additional Missing in Action soldiers, and it was a very moving experience for all of us," said First Lieutenant Anthony Young.
For some members, it was their first time participating in a D-Day commemoration, but for First Lieutenant Jerome Budde, the experience was familiar.
"It is my second time officially participating in the D-Day ceremonies. I was stationed at Ramstein Air Base in Germany with the Air Force. And during the 75th anniversary, I was actually I was taking part in the flyover with one of the C 130s. Had the liberation stripes painted on everything. And so we did a flyover over Normandy. And I was able to see all the supporters and everything on the ground, waving the American flags around and stuff. So that was super moving. And this time around, five, five years later, I was actually on the ground and parts participating in the ceremony itself. So that was a completely different experience for me," said First Lieutenant Budde.
The experience was also impactful for some young cadets who got to be a part of the ceremonies, along with cadets and JROTC groups from other countries.
"Me personally, I feel honored to even be here. I think it means a lot to me. And I think it means a lot to the veterans who came here to respect those who unfortunately lost their lives on that day," said Cadet Chief Master Sergeant Logan Mackesy.
Cadet Master Sergeant Lauren Compton told us taking part in the ceremonies was life-changing.
"Throughout the trip, I've learned a lot about my family, like my history and my family heritage, and kind of where I've come from. Generally, I knew that I had family who fought in World War II, but I didn't really know much about what happened or like, what they went through, or really who they were. But over the course of the past couple of days, I've learned a lot about the people that serve beside them. And I've even met one, a book author, who met one of my relatives who fought in the war. And that was a really cool experience," said Cadet Master Sergeant Compton.
She continued, "It's really, it's really deepened my connection to, like, my past and my history as a person. And it's really showing me that my family had an impact. I'm like, 'Hey, my family did that,' and it makes me really proud to be who I am and to be a part of the family that I am. And being in that ceremony today just made that like 10 times more. It really amplified that. And honestly, I think going home, I'm going to be taking all of that with me. And I'm going to be spreading it around like a wildfire. Everybody's gonna get to hear all about my Great Uncle Buck. And everybody's gonna get to hear all about the awesome things that I learned and all about the awesome people I learned about. Change me as a person, honestly."
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