06/06/2026
“Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!
You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months.”
- General Dwight D. Eisenhower Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Force, Message to the troops on June 6, 1944.
On June 6, 1944, nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline, to fight N**i Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. More than 5,000 Ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the D-Day invasion, and by day's end, the Allies gained a foot-hold in Continental Europe. The cost in lives on D-Day was high. More than 9,000 Allied Soldiers were killed or wounded, but their sacrifice allowed more than 100,000 Soldiers to begin the slow, hard slog across Europe, to defeat Adolf Hitler's crack troops.
For many Veterans of D-Day, talking about their experiences was something only shared with battle buddies, if at all. In hearing these stories—what they went through, what happened—we begin to understand the events that shaped the rest of their lives.
Two years ago, three Veterans recounted for us what they lived through that day: in the air, on the sea and on the beaches. Hear their stories on that monumental day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIPgjI7F-ug
