As history goes, that June day in 1944 will probably never be matched for the numbers of ships, planes and armed forces — and for what was on the line. Troops, sailors and flyers were fighting for the freedom and the future of the whole world as the foot soldjers stormed ashore at Normandy.  And as we rapidly lose the veterans of D-Day, a non-human vet is also aging.

The USS Jeremiah O’Brien is one of, if not the last, working ship from the invasion fleet. Berthed at pier 35 in San Francisco, her steam engines can still take her out to sea. Twice a year she takes people on cruises.  But the Liberty ship has faced one challenge after another. So the volunteers who protect her had an outrageous idea — sell a piece of the warship — to save the ship. Here’s the story of how you could own a piece of D-Day.