TAMPA, Fla. — World War II veterans will be back on the beaches of Normandy, France on Friday, marking 81 years since D-Day. On June 6th, 1944, allied forces launched the massive invasion that helped liberate western Europe from Nazi control.

The landings remain the largest seaborne invasion in history and are widely regarded as the catalyst for Allied victory. One WWII veteran from Tampa went to Normandy last year and still can't believe how much the French people thanked and admired him.

A year ago, it was a chance encounter 97-year-old Stearns Poor had with an employee at a car dealership that led to the Florida State Elks Association asked him if he would travel to Normandy for the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.

“When he found out that I was a WWII veteran, he identified hi

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