Bay Area WWII vets return to France for 78th D-Day anniversary

TAMPA, Fla. - World War II veterans from the Bay Area are heading back to France to mark the 78th anniversary of D-Day. 

Leon "Spike" Spychalski was an interpreter during WWII.  He purposely lied about his age on his paperwork so he could enlist and join his brother in war. 

"The thing I remember, the whole group. I'd seen a lot of casualties coming back from the front lines," he said.

At 93, he's flying back to France to be a part of th year's D-Day celebrations. It's the 78th anniversary. 

Malen Griep, 96, will also be there. He recalls seeing the atrocities at the Dachau concentration camps.  

"That was a shock to the system," Griep said. 

READ Movement made to document stories of all 421,000 soldiers who died during World War II

Their trip back to Europe is being made possible thanks to the Florida State Elks Association. It honors their bravery, sacrifice and the significance of June 6, 1944.  That was the landings at Normandy which was the largest sea invasion in history and the turning point in the war. 

"It shows them that we haven't forgotten and they and they're worth something. And what they did was worth something. And to see the European kids, they teach this in the schools and you see them come up thank our thank us. It's absolutely amazing,’ said Elks former president Rubi Masi Sr. 

Spychalski says there's a lot the younger generations can learn from his generation, which is known as the ‘Greatest Generation’. 

"To really think this and these kids should straighten up and forget about shooting these guns and all that. You get an education and know what's going on in this country," he said.