ABERGAVENNY came together as a town this morning to lay wreaths at the War Memorial in Frogmore Street and hold a short service of remembrance for all those who fought and died during D-Day.

Eighty years ago today thousands of young men stormed the beaches of Normandy with war in their ears, blood in their eyes, and lives still to be lived.

They swallowed their fear and ran headlong into bullets, bombs, and death while clinging to the hope of staying alive for a time when war was over.

Today we remember those men in silence and safety. Those whose reality was a living hell. Where sand and sea were not still or serene, but alive and writhing with a mass of soldiers calling, falling, scrambling, crawling, sinking, drowning, screaming, struggling, but driving ever onwards, ever forward.

With the cruel sea at their backs and enemy fire ahead, there was nowhere to hide, nowhere to run, but ever forward. Retreat was not an option. If they avoided the bullets, the bombs and dodged death for another day, there was a chance they’d get to see the sun rise in a different world.

Some did, some didn’t.

We remember them all.

Not to glorify war or politicise their heroics but to remember all that is good in humanity.

They weren’t fighting for power, conquest, or territory. They were fighting an idea. The twisted ideology that believed the abuse, exploitation, and murder of others was justified, that millions of people were inferior and could be systematically slaughtered like cattle, that the freedom of others was not sacrosanct, and that might always makes right.

The Allies fought for a different idea and a different world. Through their sacrifice they proved that there is always hope, freedom is precious, and the sanctity of life is not meaningless.

Many on that fateful day fought for a world and an idea of life they were denied the chance to live, but we can.

That’s why we remember.