D-Day: A Brief History of Operation Neptune and the Normandy Landings
Sixty-seven years ago today, American and Allied forces stormed French beaches in the greatest amphibious assault in military history.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower described Operation Neptune, the name given to the Normandy landings, as a crusade in which “we will accept nothing less than full victory.” At dawn on June 6, 1944, 160,000 American, British and Canadian troops went ashore to battle Germany’s Nazi soldiers across the Omaha, Utah, Sword, Juno and Gold beaches, a distance of 50 miles, heavily fortified end-to-end. The D-Day invasion was supported by some 5,000 ships and 13,000 aircraft, according to the U.S. Army’s official website. It's considered the decisive victory in Western Europe during World War II, and by the end of summer, some 3 million Allied forces were fighting in Europe. The invasion had actually begun in the dark just after midnight with more …
Ron Cassie
3:44 pm on Monday, June 6, 2011
Thanks for the comment, Janet. I've never been to the American burial sites in France, but from what everyone says, it's a very powerful experience. more ›