June 6th is the 78th anniversary of D-Day. It was on June 6th, 1944, that more than 160-thousand Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified beaches of Normandy, France. Their mission? To fight – and defeat – Hitler. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade in which, “we will accept nothing less than full victory.”
With more than 5,000 Ships and 13,000 aircraft supporting the D-Day invasion – they were on their way. By day’s end, the Allies had gained a foothold in Continental Europe. But the cost in lives 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 during what became known as the Battle of Normandy.
By the end of August, Allied forces had reached the Seine River, the Germans had been removed from northwestern France and Paris was liberated. It was this victory, which had created the momentum for the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany that came on May 8th, 1945.
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