D-Day: 82 Years Later, Remembering Those Who Fought and Died to End Tyranny

June 6, 1944 is a day we must never forget. Some 4,000 Allied troops died that day fighting the armies of Nazi Germany, which had overthrown France in its march toward communist control of Europe.

The amphibious invasion on the beaches of Normandy – codenamed “Operation Overlord” – landed more than 155,000 American, British, and Canadian troops. It was the largest air, land, and naval operation in history to that point. Within days, another 325,000 troops, vehicles, and equipment would land in Northern France. It was the beginning of the end for Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, who executed six million people of Jewish faith.

Now 82 years later, the remaining veterans are in their late 90s; their numbers dwindling rapidly each year.

In 1984, Craig Shubert interviewed five D-Day veterans over a week-long television broadcast series about their firsthand accounts of the battle. Each was deeply personal and touching. One soldier was proud of his military service. He went on to become an assistant high school principal. Another soldier, living in the state veteran’s home, was bitter over the disabling wounds he had received; his life having been altered forever by the firefight he survived. A third soldier had been a medic. The videotaped interview with Shubert brought that man to tears as he recalled memories of treating young men, badly wounded and bleeding, dying in front of him on the beach.

Each soldier had landed just after midnight at Normandy under heavy fire from the Germans. Their greatest number of casualties was at Omaha Beach, known for its high cliffs you may have seen in photos.

If you see an elderly veteran who served in World War II, be sure to thank him for his service because without these brave men, the world would be a much different place today. To learn more about D-Day, click this link: army.mil/d-day/