Today, let us remember the brave Americans and Allied troops who waded or swam ashore on D-Day, some of World War II’s bravest soldiers.
It was the largest invasion ever assembled, before or since, which landed 156,000 Allied troops by sea and air on five beachheads in Normandy, France. D-Day was the start of Allied operations which would ultimately liberate Western Europe, defeat Nazi Germany and end the Second World War.
Known as “D-Day,” the name and date loom large in the memory of World War II. D-Day put the Allies on a decisive path toward victory. Beginning with the Normandy beaches, they pushed back against Axis forces until Germany was forced to surrender less than a year later. Their achievements were not accomplished without tremendous sacrifice, however, as the Normandy invasion resulted in over 6,000 American casualties.
*Source: Library of Congress online