Photos, flags and flowers adorn the grave of soldier Billie Harris in the Colleville American Military Cemetery in France on the 72nd anniversary of the D-Day landings.

COLLEVILLE-SUR-MER, France — Proud veterans in their 90s and families of fallen soldiers are commemorating the epochal D-Day invasion of Normandy 72 years ago that helped the Allies defeat Hitler.

They’re holding small ceremonies and moments of remembrance along the wide beaches and cliffs where thousands of U.S., British, Canadian and French troops landed as dawn was breaking June 6, 1944. It was a pivotal moment in World War II.

Henry Breton of Augusta, Maine, was among the shrinking number of survivors of the landings to come for today’s anniversary. Speaking from the American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer, 91-year-old Breton recalled the fierce German counterattack and ensuing violence and valor he experienced at the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium.

“It’s all worth it,” he said. “It brings back so many memories.”

Legion of Honor

A World War II veteran from Long Island, N.Y., who flew a bomber mission on D-Day is being honored with one of France’s highest honors.

New York Air National Guard Brig. Gen. Thomas Owens was to be among those saluting 98-year-old Harold Smith during a ceremony this afternoon. The ceremony was being held at the Garden Care Center in Franklin Square in Nassau County, New York.

The former B-24 navigator is among the American WWII veterans who have received the Legion of Honor from the French government in appreciation of their service in France during the war.