I have been watching the Tom Brokaw DVD series "The Greatest Generation" tonight and one of the stories was about the men of the 507th PIR and the citizens of that small French Village who helped them in the days immediately following the Normandy Invasion. It was very touching to see the obvious affection the two old French sisters had for the Americans and vice-versa, especially after all these years. That was quite a battle between 186 members of the 82nd Airborne and some 2000 Waffen-SS Panzergrenadiers! It was unfortunate that so many innocents and wounded were murdered by the Germans after they managed to push the Americans out of the village, but that small band of Americans killed more than 500 Waffen-SS before they left, and wounded many more.
There was another story about a woman who's father was killed in WWII before she was even born. She finally got to meet the surviving crew members of the Bomber her Dad was flying the night his plane was shot down, and she learned that her father stayed at the controls until all 8 crew members had a chance to bail out....but time had run out for her Father. Stories of great personal sacrifice. God Bless them all. 
Jim