"We didn't know what to expect, " said Don Millin, chairman of the Wyoming Democratic Party.

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He had asked Mr Millin to be his personal piper: not a feudal but a military arrangement.

ECONOMIST: Bill Millin

Mr Millin inquired, half-joking, whether he should walk up and down in the traditional way of pipers.

ECONOMIST: Bill Millin

Millin held the bagpipes above his head in the waves, making it to the beach amid the chaos and mayhem.

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The War Office in London now forbade pipers to play in battle, but Mr Millin and Lord Lovat, as Scots, plotted rebellion.

ECONOMIST: Bill Millin

Millin's brigadier that day, Lord Lovat, had specifically ignored the general order against bagpipers issued for 9, 000 Scottish troops participating in the attack.

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Millin, now 81, will be honored in Normandy at 60th anniversary ceremonies and his pipes and uniform from D-Day are on permanent display in Edinburgh Castle.

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Mr Millin himself knew he wasn't going to die.

ECONOMIST: Bill Millin

To mark the 60th anniversary of the Normandy invasion, NPR's Fred Child has the story of Scotland's "Mad Piper" Bill Millin, who played on the beaches for his regiment on June 6, 1944.

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