On June 6, 1944, D-Day, some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along the coast of France’s Normandy region. There would be eleven more months of hard fighting in Europe before the Nazis were defeated, but the D-Day invasion gave the Allies the success they needed to start that fight.
Today we commemorate the estimated 4,414 Allied soldiers, Marines, sailors, airmen and coast guardsmen who died on D-Day. We remember the men who risked their lives, not to conquer, but to liberate.
In 2019, Marines’ Memorial celebrated the 75th Anniversary of D-Day by showcasing three speakers, Brigadier (Retd.) Roderick Macdonald MBE, Dr. Seth Givens, and Mr. Phil Gioia, who retold first-hand accounts of June 6th both from the Allied and German perspectives. If you have not seen it, or wish to watch it again, you can find the video on MarinesMemorial.org or on our YouTube page.