And over the weekend a horse named Normandy Invasion may not have won the Kentucky Derby but he sure did win the hearts of Veterans all over the United States.

Rick Porter has been a business man for 20 years a former soldier and an auto dealer turned thoroughbred owner. He has been naming horses to honor veterans. Porter never saw combat but he served in Korea for two years in the 1960s. He also never forgot a haunting visit to the Normandy beaches in 1994 which was the 50th anniversary of the invasion that turned the tide in World War II.

June 6, 1944, 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy. More than 5,000 Ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the D-Day invasion. The D-Day cost was high -more than 9,000 Allied Soldiers were killed or wounded -- but more than 100,000 Soldiers began the march across Europe to defeat Hitler.

Last year, after 10 years on the inactive list, the name Normandy Invasion became available again and Porter proudly snatched it up. It circulated the internet fast and the emails from veterans followed. Porter answered as many as he could and finally settled on inviting four WWII Veterans to be his guests.

Alan Reeves, a 91 year old WWII Veteran, of San Diego was the organizer, which made plenty of sense. He worked for Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, assigned to the Supreme Command, and later saw action in southern France. With Porter's help, he settled on three other soldiers who actually landed on the beaches at Normandy.

For WWII Veteran Bill Wilch, this was an especially emotional experience.

He brought his wife's picture with him, Mary Rita, because her dream was to be at the Kentucky Derby. She passed away before he could take her there. He held her picture tightly with tears in his eyes and “we finally made it”.

Normandy Invasion came in 4th at the Derby but first place in the hearts of all WWII veterans across the Nation.