Sprinkled throughout today’s Butler Eagle are voices from America’s Greatest Generation — a collection of first-hand accounts from the days our nation banded together against tyranny and worldwide domination.

Our mission was sparked by the upcoming 75th anniversary of D-Day, when more than 160,000 Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy, France, and began the hard-fought battle to defeat Hitler’s Nazis.

Stories about heroes who fought their way across Europe during World War II. Accounts of valor in the face of enemies most could never imagine. Remembrances of those now gone, but “never forgotten.”

The men and women considered our nation’s Greatest Generation were our parents, grandparents, and — for today’s millenials — great-grandparents. And sadly, for many of us, their stories of growing up in the Depression, fighting a war thousands of miles from home, Rosie the Riveter, war bonds, Pearl Harbor, D-Day, all of it, exists only in our memories.

Stories we heard time and again as youngsters without thinking much about them. Stories that we try desperately to remember and piece together today.

We rolled our eyes when they talked about the hardship that they endured to ensure not only our freedom, but our prosperity. We listened, often loosely, when our grandfathers and grandmothers talked about World War II and its impact on the United States and her people.

We cheered alongside our parents at Memorial Day and Veterans Day parades — but were more excited about the marching bands and the floats than the veterans proudly walking with heads held high. Those men and women knew the sacrifice they’d made for us — even if we were too young and naive to understand it.

For us, this generation was always going to be around. There’d always be time to pay closer attention later.

At least, that was the case until suddenly it wasn’t.

According to the National World War II Museum, of the 16 million Americans who proudly served, fewer than 500,000 are still with us today. And of those, approximately 350 veterans die daily across our nation — including some from right here at home in Butler County.

The Butler Eagle set out on a mission to honor these veterans and safeguard their stories for future generations. What you see here is the start of something very special in which all involved have been tremendously proud to play a role.

Included with the amazing profile pieces captured here by our reporters and photographers are oral history recordings videotaped by our social media editor that will soon be launched on our website. Readers will not only have the stories appearing in the newspaper. With the click of a button, they will be able to watch a video of that same veteran recounting their stories to our staff.

For too many, those stories went to the grave with family. Stories that so many, so often try to recreate and chronicle, but it feels like putting together a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle. All those times when we looked back and thought “How I wish I’d just turned on a recorder.”

Our goal is to continue this series on a regular basis and expand it as we go to ensure our strong and proud community of veterans are “never forgotten” by the generations after us.

— ALH