Stars and Stripes
Lt. Col. Dennis Duffy, 732nd Airlift Squadron commander, places a wreath at the base of a 22-foot bronze statue, "The Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves" at the Normandy American Cementary Sept. 23, 2011. The cemetery is situated on a cliff overlooking Omaha Beach and the English Channel just east of St-Laurent-sur-Mer, France. Duffy was part of a contingent of Reserve Airmen from the 514th Air Mobility Wing who repatriated the wreckage of a bomber that crashed in World War II. The B-17 Flying Fortress spent more than half a century in a French farmers barn before being turned over to the Airmen. The 514th Air Mobility Wing is stationed at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.