It Was 66 Years Ago...
And it wasn't the best of days, weather-wise for the troops that stormed the beaches in Normandy during Operation Overlord or Operation Neptune, better known as D-Day. The term D-Day was military jargon for the date of an invasion (decision).
D-Day for the invasion of Normandy by the Allies was originally set for June 5, 1944, but bad weather and heavy seas caused Gen. Dwight D Eisenhower to delay until June 6 and that date has been popularly referred to ever since by the short title "D-Day". Because of the connotation with the invasion of Normandy, planners of later military operations sometimes avoided the term to prevent confusion.
The assault was conducted in two phases: an air assault landing of 24,000 American, British, Canadian and Free French airborne troops shortly after midnight, and an amphibious landing of Allied infantry and armored divisions on the coast of France commencing at 6:30 AM.
There were also subsidiary 'attacks' mounted under the code names Operation Glimmer and Operation Taxable to distract the German forces from the real landing areas.
The operation was the largest amphibious invasion of all time, with over 160,000 troops landing on 6 June 1944. 195,700 Allied naval and merchant navy personnel in over 5,000 ships were involved.
The invasion required the transport of soldiers and materiel from the United Kingdom by troop-laden aircraft and ships, the assault landings, air support, naval interdiction of the English Channel and naval fire-support.
The landings took place along a 50-mile (80 km) stretch of the Normandy coast divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword.
For ALL the "nuts and bolts" connected with the invasion check out the WIKI:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandy_landings
Much has been made about this day, both in written word and in the cinema.
Almost every star that was any star appeared in several movies that have to do with D-Day.
















This link is from the U.S. Army and has a video attached to it.
http://www.army.mil/d-day/
There is also a National D-Day Memorial Foundation site:
http://www.dday.org/
And a concise history of D-Day found here:
http://www.worldwar2history.info/D-Day/
Here's a UK site with loads of places to take a virtual visit.
http://www.dday.co.uk/













So you can see, there is PLENTY to read about this pivotal event in OUR history. We lost MORE soldiers there...in just ONE DAY than we've lost in the entire Iraq War (about 10 years running). That's something to think about.
The sad part is that we LOSE roughly between 900-1100 veterans from WW2 every single day, and their story goes with them, unless we become their voices, carrying on with the history such brave men lived through, and so many more died for.
It's just something to make you slow down a bit today...and think about what these soldiers took upon their shoulders as they fought to preserve freedom for so many.
Have a great Sunday, remember the significance of today, and...
Stay safe out there, America.