Normandy, France (CNN) -- Jim "Pee Wee" Martin acted like he'd been here before, like jumping from a plane is as easy as falling off a log. Maybe that's because he had -- 70 years ago.
"I'm feeling fine," Martin told reporters moments after landing in a French field. "... It was wonderful, absolutely wonderful."
Martin was part of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division that parachuted down over Utah Beach in their bid to retake France and, eventually, the rest of Europe from Nazi Germany. They actually touched down in enemy-controlled territory a night before what's referred to as D-Day.
His jump Thursday in the same area was different and -- despite his being 93 years old now -- a whole lot easier.
"It didn't (compare)," Martin said, "because there wasn't anybody shooting at me today."
Every year, every day it seems, the number of surviving World War II veterans like Martin dwindles. He estimates there are only a few dozen members of his unit who took part in the now historic D-Day invasion who are still around.
Photos: The Allied invasion of Normandy
Take a moment to remember and be grateful for all the troops that were dropped onto the beaches of Normandy only to find barbed wire, mines, and thousands of Germans firing machine gun bullets at them. June 6th, 1944 is a day that many can say changed the face of the second World War and proved that the Allies were a force to be reckoned with.
Today, there are a very small amount of men left that participated in the Second Great War, but heroes like Pee Wee Martin are still here to tell the tales. The quote highlighted in bold in the above article really brings home the experience that he had. When asked about recreating the DDay jump, Martin said, "It didn't (compare)," Martin said, "because there wasn't anybody shooting at me today." It was bad enough that he had to jump out of a perfectly good airplane, but he had to jump into a sea of anti aircraft shells and machine gun fire.
Much respect is given to these troops. God Bless America.
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