only thing more deafening was the eerie silence in those boats and the awesome responsibility thrust on the ridiculously young, some not more than teenagers in those boats. men whose lives had yet to start. but for thousands of them in the hours to come, it would all end. the men who would never see their families or even get a chance to start a family, who would never know the joys of victory even as their sacrifice assured that victory. and they knew it. going in hoping, praying, maybe for them it would all still work out. all etched in the faces of those who survived this day well into their 90's now, quiet, dignified witnesses to the untold carnage back then of buddies long gone but not forgotten, perhaps seeing in the sea of white crosses around them they are not immune to time, simply because they have enjoyed more time. of the 16 million world war ii american veterans little more than 496,000 are alive