This 70-year old is so very grateful to The Day for the June 6 front page article on the heroic Army Chaplain Raymond Hall that  inspired and emotionally rewarded me as none other of the many thousands of prior D-Day stories I’ve mentally ingested ever did.

As a young boy residing on a Brooklyn military base I was spiritually guided by a Catholic catechist nun – the only name I ever knew her by was “Sister” – who turned out to be far and away the most important person in my life. It was she who launched my lifelong ambition to be a military chaplain or a least serve in some such capacity.

When drafted into the Army in 1969, I didn’t qualify but spent whatever time I could around chapels and chaplains. I thus vicariously experienced at least a part of by boyhood dream and thanks, to your fine paper, did so again today.

On the 75th Anniversary of D-Day, The Day nobly and wisely saluted the braves troops who all willingly risked enemy fire, many  dying warriors who were headed for the greater world beyond. Thiers is the ultimate legacy of why our American Dream must continue to persevere against totalitarian forces of evil.

Martin Crane

New London