A calm quiet filled the Coeur d'Alene American Legion office on Monday.

Quiet is common on the anniversary of D-Day, said veteran Earl Crain.

"It's kind of like the Korean War. It's the forgotten holiday," the Coeur d'Alene veteran said.

There were no celebrations in Kootenai County on Monday to observe the historical day 67 years prior, when landing craft loosened more than 150,000 Allied soldiers into a rain of bullets on the beaches of Normandy.

Still, veterans across Kootenai County had the event clear in their minds.

They always do, said Dave Sheldon.

"D-Day tends to only mean a lot to those who served in World War II and other wars," Sheldon said, seated across from fellow veterans in the American Legion office.

They can relate to such a day, he said, because of the grim realities all members of the armed forces face.

"The fact that you joined and put a uniform on is saying 'Yes, I will do what I have to do, including give my life, if that's what it takes,'" Sheldon explained.

The Hayden man can't totally understand what it was like on D-Day, he said, having never been in combat.

But he has experienced the fear of not knowing where his choice to serve would take him, he said.

"They were scared to death, most of 'em," Sheldon said of those who landed on the Normandy shores. "By most accounts I've read and heard, anyone who's gone into combat, if they're not scared, something's wrong."

Sheldon and wife Carla, who both served 20 years in the Navy, planned to mark the day by watching "Saving Private Ryan," he added, which makes the sacrifice of thousands of Americans feel more real.

"It makes me so thankful, especially having traveled the world with the Navy and seen the way most countries live and run themselves," he said. "It (D-Day) is why I'm here, free."

Crain, commander of the Coeur d'Alene American Legion, said he feels a particular connection to the D-Day forces, as he trained in amphibious operations in his four years in the Navy.

"I can't imagine," the Korean War veteran said of the D-Day soldiers' experience. "They went and did what they were supposed to do."

Crain honors the anniversary with quiet prayer, he said.

"Just hoping we don't have another one," he said.

Vietnam veteran Bob Grendell said he celebrates D-Day as the turning point in World War II, clinching the eventual victory for the Allied forces.

He also grieves it as the day that the U.S. suffered a sweeping loss of able warriors.

"I can't wrap my head around what those guys went through, crawling up on that beach under withering fire that took them out before they got their feet on dry land," the Coeur d'Alene man said, shaking his head.

Grendell has extensively studied major battles after serving in the Air Force for 23 years, he added, just wanting to know what his brothers in arms experienced.

So he is confident, he said, that the Allies' D-Day victory in 1944 is the reason Americans aren't speaking Japanese or German today.

"For us to come out on top of that day is unbelievable," the 67-year-old said, adding that he observes the day simply in deep reflection. "Anyone who wants to go to France and take a look around can see we paid one hell of a price."

It's confusing to John Dunlap why D-Day isn't more recognized, he said.

"Any day that we lost a lot of people, we should put it on our calendars," said Dunlap, eating lunch with other veterans at the Post Falls American Legion on Monday afternoon.

Among the D-Day casualties was his sister's boyfriend, the Navy veteran added.

"It interrupted her life," Dunlap said. "We should let people know how many lives were interrupted on D-Day."

Sheldon said he would ask folks to take a moment to acknowledge just that.

"Whether as a family or an individual, take a short time out of your day and remember those who gave everything," he said.