CRYSTAL FALLS, MI (AP)-- Children at a Crystal Falls elementary school have collected sand to scatter on the graves of American troops killed in the D-Day landing at Normandy during World War II.
The fourth-graders at Forest Park Elementary have studied the June 4, 1944, Allied landing on the French coast in which 29,000 Americans died.
Brenton Houle says he learned that many soldiers didn't make it to safety as they tried to land amid heavy fire. He says they were "scared of dying" or that their "friends would be gone."
They collected sand wherever they could find it. Graci Varoni got it from the sandbox.
Marching band members from downstate Stevensville will perform during D-Day's 70th anniversary ceremonies and plan to scatter the sand on the graves.
