I’d like to take a moment today, the 80th anniversary of D-Day, to thank Neil Cavuto’s dad and all World War II veterans for their service.

Near the end of his Fox News show today, Your World host Neil Cavuto commemorated the 80th anniversary of D-Day by paying tribute to his late father and others who served in World War II.

CAVUTO: Tom Brokaw called them the greatest generation. That was my Dad's generation. And that is my dad. Part of a generation defined by a World War and a Great Depression, but more defined by their collective sense of selflessness. I remember him telling me how he signed up to fight the very day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Bright and early on the morning of December 8,1941, there was my dad, Patrick Cavuto, showing up at the local Army recruitment office in Rochester, New York to join the fight.

He was little more than a teenager. He freely admitted he had no idea what he was getting into, only that he had to get into it. I was foolish enough to ask him as a kid would he ever consider going to Canada to escape? Now, he had an angry look on his face. Then again, my Dad often had an angry look on his face after I said a lot of dumb things, but I'll never forget how he explained why he did what he did.

A man of few words, he simply said, “Neil, it was just something you did, so I did. And that was that. No debate, no turning back. Like so many in his generation, quietly responding to a deafening calling. No fanfare, no easy outs, no way. There was too much on the line, so everyone simply got in line for the greater good, to do good.

Cavuto was clearly longing for at least some of that spirit to revisit the country now.

CAVUTO: It just seems like such a different world. Then you start thinking of the petty rivalries and fights that dominate our modern world. A far cry from what these veterans endured 80 years ago, when they saved the world.

I know I’m not saying anything profound here. Just gratitude here. A time for us to show respect and honor here. My dad is long gone. My mom as well. I cannot fathom all the hardship that they faced. Only that they faced it. They all did. I'm sure not happily but quietly, bravely, consistently.

So few are left of that greatest generation but I like to think they remain in us. They are part of us. Here's hoping we share something else: their calling to our better angels back then. So many of them with the angels right now, watching us, hoping for us, quietly pushing us and reminding us they are us. They're not only in our history books. My friends, they are in our very DNA. Let us never forget that. Or them. Ever.