INDIAN RIVER, MI -- On June 6, 1944, the D-Day Invasion of Europe took place in Normandy during World War II.

Before the day was over, 155,000 allied troops had landed and in one of the deadliest battles, more than 9,000 troops were killed.

War historians say more than 4,500 US Troops were killed on the invasion that has been called the beginning of the end of World War II.

One man who survived the invasion was 86 year-old Army Ranger Ray Tollefson who now lives in Cheboygan County.

He's one of six men from the Second Ranger Company who is still living.

As Ray Tollefson and I sat down to talk about D-Day, he told me exactly where he was 67 years ago.  He had just jumped off a boat and was walking toward Omaha Beach, he got fired at and shot in the arm, he thought he lost his arm, and he remembers floating to short wondering if he was going to make it or not.

The young-gunner from the small Upper Peninsula town of L'Anse enlisted as an Army Ranger at the age of 18.  Today, you can still see the war wound on Tollefson's right arm and he still has the Western Union letter sent to his mother by the Army telling her about her son being injured.  A Purple Heart dangles among the other military decorations he's earned.

“For those few of us that are left, it's something, something we quietly, we remember," Tollefson said.

The waves were choppy as Tollefson and his comrades began their boat ride to invade and regain control of Omaha Beach.  As they approached the shores and when the boat's ramps opened, the slaughter began.

“The fellows that went down the ramp got hit right away, and they were dying right there," he said.

He, like his fellow Rangers, jumped off the boat and into the deep water.

“After I got where I had a footing, I aimed my rifle at the shoreline, there was a pillbox over that way, I shot twice to see if it was working, and a few seconds later, I got hit," he remembers.

He remembers the waves pushing him onto shore.  He ended up next to his best friends Jim Slagle and Joe Daniels.  Slagle was gravely wounded and Daniels was dying.

“Joe, he just, he was on the end, he had been shot up so bad that he whimpered away, he was whimpering about his mother and that, but it was a short time and he died," he remembers.

Tollefson passed out for hours.  When he woke up, he crawled across the sand to the road and managed to find enough strength to walk to the aid station.  On the way he was able to avoid the enemy. 

“They could see I wasn't worth wasting a shell on," he said.

Tollefson was transferred to England and then on home to recover.  Two years of several operations later, he was fully recovered.  He’s one of the lucky ones who survived that historic day 67 years ago.

Over the weekend, Tollefson was honored as Cheboygan County's "Veteran of the Year" at a golf outing.

For years, he’s spent D-Day anniversaries at the battle site.  He says he’s shaken the hand of every President and has made several friends in Normandy. 

He was also featured in a BBC Documentary breaking down the D-Day invasion.

A golf course now overlooks Omaha Beach, where several allies were killed on June 6^th, 1944.  Each hole at the Omaha Beach Golf Club is named after an allied leader.  Hole number nine is named after Ray Tollefson.