Mike L.

Father, Husband, PSU Alum, Photographer. God Bless America !

[alex kershaw @kershaw_alex]

The first wave is closing on Omaha Beach. This is why, as a Brit, I tell my American son always to hold his head high. Most of the men in this photo will be killed or wounded in the next couple of hours. My freedom is not free. See more on Substack: https://t.co/EEg00P06y6

[alex kershaw @kershaw_alex]

Captain Leonard Schroeder leads his company ashore in the first wave on Utah Beach, becoming the first American to arrive from the sea on D Day, according to 1944 reports. He almost lost his arm this morning. It's 6.28 am on D Day. See more on Substack: https://t.co/EEg00P0EnE

[alex kershaw @kershaw_alex]

The last living officer to fight on Omaha Beach, Major General John Raaen, 104.

In 1944, right now, he wades ashore. “We landed at 7:50 a.m. where there were breakwaters and we had plenty of cover.” Even so, Raaen came under a “tremendous amount” of small arms fire from the nearby bluffs and several German strongpoints. There was “constant noise,” a ceaseless “roar.” Bullets cracked in the air, “pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, above you. The machine gun fire was absolutely continuous.”

When I met Raaen back in 2018, he told me he could still hear the sound of those bullets snapping over his head, the wall of noise that greeted him as he waded ashore. He crossed Omaha Beach, moved up steep bluffs, reached Vierville sur Mer around noon then set up the 5th Rangers’ first command post in Normandy. His first, critical mission was to organize the relief of fellow Rangers, surrounded and fighting for their lives five miles away at Pointe du Hoc, having scaled vertiginous cliffs under fire. These men from the 2nd Ranger Battalion had carried out one of the now legendary feats of D Day, described by Omar Bradley as the “most dangerous mission”.

See more: https://t.co/kdNsJD04vx

[alex kershaw @kershaw_alex]

The first breakout. Lt. John Spalding leads his platoon up this path and off Omaha Beach, "an angel on each shoulder", through mines, without losing a single man. The first Americans have escaped the hell of the golden sands. A huge moment. Courage counts. See more: https://t.co/kdNsJD04vx

[alex kershaw @kershaw_alex]

Lowering the flag on D Day. Follow me on Substack fot more: https://t.co/EEg00P0EnE

[alex kershaw @kershaw_alex]

Lt Ray Nance, the only officer from Bedford, Virginia, in the 29th Inf. Div. to make it home. Lying now with a heel shot off on Omaha Beach, traumatized, having lost 19 friends from his hometown. See more at https://t.co/y6G2nmqJbu

[Erin Derham @HistoryBoutique]

A lovely widow reaches out asking someone to leave flowers on her husband‘s headstone, and dozens show up, including our own Secretary of War.

I see God in moments like this.

Praying for our fallen soldiers and those active today.

[SharrellAnne @SharrellAnne2]

Tulsi, thank you. Not just for taking the time to visit Alan today, but for understanding the weight of that sacrifice in a way few people ever truly will.

You answered the call to serve this country just like he did. You know what it means to put on the uniform, to stand willing to give everything in defense of this nation, and that makes this gesture mean even more to our family.

Seeing you standing there at his grave honestly brought me to tears. Thank you for honoring Alan, for saying his name, and for reminding me that there are still people in this country who have not forgotten the cost of freedom. 🇺🇸

[Nick Sortor @nicksortor]

@KellyLMcCarty @SharrellAnne2 @TulsiGabbard And for those wondering, I grabbed @TulsiGabbard’s challenge coin she left on SSG Shaw’s gravestone and will be shipping it out to @SharrellAnne2.

This is truly an awesome gift from Director Gabbard.

[Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 @TulsiGabbard]

It was an honor to visit your husband’s grave today on your behalf, and to pay my respects. It was wonderful to see the beautiful flowers representing many others who did the same. Our nation owes a debt of gratitude to those who made the ultimate sacrifice, and to the loved ones they left behind. Thank you for your service and sacrifice @SharrellAnne2 🙏🏽

[Secretary of War Pete Hegseth @SecWar]

To the warriors standing their eternal watch—we honor you.

May we LIVE WORTHY of their sacrifice

[DocumentingLibs @HistorianUSA1]

🇺🇸 Two Marines. 19 years old on Iwo Jima. 100 and 101 today.

Watch this and tell me your heart doesn’t swell with pride.

These legends — Billy and Don — are some of the last remaining veterans from that hellish mountain where young Americans raised the flag over one of the bloodiest battles in Marine Corps history. They stormed ashore as teenagers, faced unimaginable horror, and helped secure victory in the Pacific. Now, 80+ years later, they’re still here, still sharp, still smiling, still holding those little American flags with the same hands that once carried rifles for this country.

The respect in that airport hallway says everything. Pilots, staff, strangers — everyone stops and recognizes what these men represent.

This is living history. This is the Greatest Generation. These are the men who saved the world when the world needed saving most.

To Billy and Don: Thank you doesn’t feel big enough. Your courage at 19 made our freedom possible at 100+. America owes you a debt we can never fully repay — but we will never forget.

We don’t deserve heroes like you… but damn, we’re lucky to still have you.

Share this. Remember them. Teach your kids what real toughness looks like.

Semper Fi. God Bless these Marines and God Bless the United States of America. 🔥🇺🇸

[Breaking911 @Breaking911]

God bless our veterans. 🇺🇸

[The Babylon Bee @TheBabylonBee]

Wife Throws Away Incredibly Specific Adapter Cable You've Held On To For 7 Years Right Before You Suddenly Find A Use For It https://t.co/2wSkSr7beG

[Julia 🇺🇸 @Jules31415]

Spotted in Lancaster County, PA 🇺🇸

[Dustin @r0ck3t23]

Jeff Bezos asked a room to imagine going back a hundred years.

When almost everyone was a farmer.

And telling those farmers that in 2018 there’d be a job called “massage therapist.”

Bezos: “They would not have believed you.”

Then a friend took it further.

Bezos: “Forget massage therapist, there are dog psychiatrists.”

He looked it up.

Bezos: “Sure enough, you can easily hire a psychiatrist for your dog.”

The room laughed.

The point under the laughter wasn’t funny at all.

Every time a major technology shift hits, we do the exact same thing.

We count the jobs it will destroy.

We never count the ones it will create.

Because we can’t.

They don’t have names yet.

The fear is always specific.

AI will replace accountants. AI will replace radiologists. AI will replace drivers.

The fear has job titles and timelines and projections.

The opportunity has none of those things.

Because you can’t name what doesn’t exist yet.

A farmer in 1920 could understand losing his job to a tractor.

He could not understand gaining a career as a social media strategist.

Not because he lacked intelligence.

Because the entire chain of inventions between his world and that job hadn’t been built yet.

Radio. Television. The internet. Smartphones. Social platforms. Creator economies.

Every single link in that chain had to exist before “social media strategist” could even be a sentence.

That’s where we are with AI right now.

Everyone is staring at the tractor.

Nobody can see the thing seven inventions away that doesn’t have a name yet.

The fear is loud because it fits inside language we already have.

The opportunity is silent because it doesn’t.

Every technological revolution in history created more jobs than it destroyed.

Every single one.

Not because anyone planned it.

Because human needs expand faster than machines can fill them.

We didn’t need massage therapists when we were breaking our backs on farms.

We needed them after machines freed our backs and stress replaced labor.

The demand didn’t disappear.

It migrated somewhere no one was looking.

That is exactly what’s happening right now.

The jobs AI creates won’t make sense to us yet.

They’ll sound as absurd as “dog psychiatrist” would’ve sounded to a farmer in 1920.

Until someone is running a $200 hourly practice with a six-month waitlist.

The entire conversation right now is about what we’re about to lose.

Nobody is talking about what we’re about to gain.

Because the gains don’t have vocabulary yet.

A hundred years from now, someone will stand on a stage and describe the jobs we couldn’t imagine today.

And the audience will laugh.

The same way we just did.

[Penn State Men’s Hockey @PennStateMHKY]

Nittany Lion forward Charlie Cerrato has inked a three-year, entry-level contract with the NHL’s @Canes!! ✍️🏒

#SoundTheSiren

Congrats, Chucky!! 🫡🎉

#WeAre #HockeyValley

[Ryan Rozbiani @RyanRozbiani]

This is NOT AI

Marco Rubio is really wearing the Nicolas Maduro’s Nike outfit on Air Force One heading to China

[Tim Jue @timjue]

Southwest Airlines debuts a special new livery aircraft in honor of America's 250th birthday: Independence One, registration N1776R.

Perhaps most eye-catching: "Red, white, and blue paint scheme with 1776 written in giant quill script, and the key phrase, 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' from the Declaration of Independence and the three inalienable rights endowed to all humans," the airline says.

[📸 Southwest Airlines]

[Richie Rich @gofishh77]

The audio would not work during a high school basketball game, so this man stood up and belted it out. I bet it was better than what the audio would have been anyway. Way to go!! 🇺🇸🇺🇸