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TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - We are remembering the invasion of Normandy, France this week with the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

For many today, the day is a paragraph, perhaps a few pages in a history book. But for those who were alive back then, few things were larger in impact in their lives.

With this 80th anniversary, we have said goodbye to almost all of the veterans who were alive then or who participated in Operation Overlord. It was a time in America when we were united for a single cause. There was not division between generations, no separation of families in dispute.

No one seemed to care which political camp you aligned with. There were no ultimatums from our leaders that suggested you are either with us or against us based on political views. There was just a focus of sending hundreds of thousands of our volunteer soldiers into harm’s way, with many of them killed or injured, to re-establish a free land.

In fact, President Franklin Roosevelt addressed the country by radio and started his address with a prayer. A prayer, public, unfiltered and genuine. It is hard to imagine such an act coming from some of today’s leaders. But while the survivors of D-Day are all but gone, perhaps, just maybe, our country, we as citizens, can put away the selfish things that cause division, and lower the tone of rage that we encounter to come together for a brief period of healing.

We’ve got it pretty good – not perfect – but pretty good – and that will make for A Better East Texas.