D-Day, June 6, 1944, "The Longest Day"

"'This is D-Day,’ the BBC announced at twelve. ‘This is the day.’ The invasion has begun...Is this really the beginning of the long-awaited liberation? The liberation we’ve all talked so much about, which still seems too good, too much of a fairy tale ever to come true? Will this year, 1944, bring us victory? We don’t know yet. But where there’s hope, there’s life. It fills us with fresh courage and makes us strong again.” —Anne Frank, diary entry June 6, 1944

Eighty years ago, on the morning of 6 June 1944 U.S. and Allied Forces commenced Operation Overlord, the invasion of the European mainland that began the liberation of Europe from Hitler’s NAZI (national socialism) regime.? This day was designated as “D-Day,” the day that Operation Overlord was to commence. By dawn on June 6, thousands of paratroopers and glider troops were already on the ground behind enemy lines, securing bridges and exit roads. At 6:30 AM over 160,000 American, British, and Canadian troops landed over a 50-mile stretch of heavily fortified beaches at Normandy. More than 6,000 ships and 12,000 aircraft supported the D-Day invasion.?

By nightfall of June 6, 1944, some well over 100,000 Allied servicemen had come ashore. The US 1st and 29th Infantry Divisions made the most difficult landing on Omaha Beach. Stiff German resistance here caused over thousands of casualties before the Allied troops could establish their positions by the end of the first day. On this D-day Allied troops suffered more than 10,000 casualties,?with 4,400 confirmed dead. U.S. forces suffered about 6,600 casualties, British and Canadian forces suffered about 3,700 casualties.?

Despite Allied superiority, the Germans contained Allied troops in their slowly expanding beachhead for six weeks.

This day. June 6th is observed annually as D-Day, brings overwhelming memories of the brave men and women who fought a strategically planned and well-executed battle that ultimately led to the end of the Second World War. Eight decades after the end of World War II, these memories remain fresh to the estimated 119,000 living U.S. veterans of the war. Their numbers are dwindling. The rest of us look to their legacy and the rich history of events told through museums and memorials. Today June 6th, 2024, is an important time for us to remember and honor them as we reflect on D-Day, June 6, 1944.

Colorized pictures from "The Longest Day"