This 98-year-old stormed Juno Beach on D-Day. He'll be portrayed in an upcoming documentary

Jim Parks still vividly remembers the day he and his platoon stormedthe beaches of Normandymore than 70 years ago.

Parks, a member of the Winnipeg Rifles,was among the first wave of Canadian soldiersto land at Juno Beach on June 6, 1944,two minutes before the main assault wave hit. His boat was struckby the Germans as heavy machine guns fired on them,forcing himto jump in the water.

"We had to sort of swim in," he said, remembering looking back and seeing a fellow soldierstill in the water.

"We don't know [if]they're alive or dead," Parks recalled.

Parks, 98, who now lives in Mount Albert, Ont., about 67 kilometres north of Toronto, lied about his age to join the army, claiming to be 18 when he was actually 15. He joined upafter his brother Jack Parks persuadedhim to enlist. Both brothers stormed Juno Beach on D-Day, although they weren't on the same landing craft. And both made it out alive.

Theywere among roughly14,000 Canadians who landed at Juno Beach on D-Day, joining the more than 150,000 allied troops who fought their way ashore onfive beaches inNormandy that day. Some 359 Canadian soldiers died on D-Day,according to an account of the battle on the Veterans Affairs website, and more than 800 were wounded.

A new documentary film titledLittle Black Devils From Juno to Putot, that is being shot in France, will include both Parks brothers. Parks said Little Black Devilswas the namegiven to their team.

In 2011, the film's creator Frederick Jeanne met Parks in Winnipeg. Parkshelped him write a book on the Royal Winnipeg Rifles called Hold the Oak Line.

"They were very close to death but they managed to escapethe Second World War untouched," Jeanne said.

"Jim was a special witness ... He saw many things."

The five-part documentary film is set to come outin 2024, Jeanne says.

Parks credits his crystal-clear memory in part to being so youngat the time of the war.

"I was just in the impressionable age when you're a teenager," he said.

"Everything that you get there is locked in People remember a lot of things about their high school."

Rob Cullen, whose dad Gilbert Cullen was a gunner in the CanadianArmy's 12thField Regiment, met Parks roughly a decade ago at a Remembrance Day ceremony.

"My dad landed right behind Jim with the artillery and I spoke to Jim about it," Cullen told CBC Toronto.

"And Jim said, 'Yes, it's absolutely true,' and we just kind of blossomed from there as friends."

Cullen's father also survived the war and diedin 1980.

Cullen and his wife travelled to Normandyin June of this year.

He has a ritual of going into the waters off Juno Beach on the anniversary of D-Day at the hour of the start of the attack. At 7:30 a.m. he walksas far and as deepas he can go while standing.

"Sometimesit's warm and sometimes it's freezing," Cullen said.

"I do a lot of thinking and I pay some respects to the guys who came ashore and the ones who didn't make it. And I fill up the ocean a little bit with my tears and have my moment, and then I walk back in the same time that my dad landed."

While at the beach in the early hours, he noticed a group of four young men slowly approaching him. He was stunnedwhenhe spotted an emblem of theRoyal Winnipeg Rifles on their jackets.

"We start talking and they're asking what I'm doing there and they tell me, 'We're filming a movie here about the Royal Winnipeg Rifles.' And I said, 'Well, I know one of those guys.his name is Jim Parks.'"

"The one guy looks at me, he says 'I'm playing Jim Parks in the movie.'I'm getting goosebumps just talking about it," Cullen said.

"There is nobody else on the whole beach. Me, my wife and these four guys. And I find the guy that's playing Jim Parks in a movie that I never knew was being filmed. It was absolutely jaw-dropping."

Cullen said it's important storiesabout soldiers like Parkscontinue to be shared.

"We are losing so many veterans," hesaid.

"You know, we say, 'Lest we forget.'Well, here's this crew of guys over in Normandy working on a shoestring budget, putting together a motion picture about our soldiers and their sacrifice."

Meantime, Parks says he still stays active. He drives to his local gym about three times a week to work out.

"I get a swim about once a week, but most of the time it's in the gym it's a lot of socializing," Parks said.

"Just to keep out of mischief, really."

He says he hopes he can return for the openingof the film in 2024.

"I think we said to Fred, 'When you do the premiere over there, how about an invite?'" Parks said, laughing.