As I walked the beaches with the American veterans who had returned for this anniversary, men in their sixties and seventies, and listened to their stories, I was deeply moved and profoundly grateful for all they had done,

More and more of the veterans are in wheelchairs and with breathing apparatus, and they've lost a lot of friends in the last couple of years. I see Medal of Honor winners, and more and more of them are infirm.

Our daughters were coming of age during a rising consciousness about gender equality. Throughout their school years - from kindergarten through graduate school, 1972 to 1992 - women were starting to take their places in areas traditionally reserved mostly for men.

If I were George W. Bush, I would be terrorized by the eyes of those scruffy-looking veterans, the so-called band of brothers, volunteering for duty with the Kerry campaign. They look like men with scores to settle.

[Veterans] do have more leeway to criticize Bush. It gives Republicans something to think about.

And the Sonoma County veterans who have died in war to date have all been men. We didn't pick it, that's the way it is.