D-Day Remembered: Omaha Beach

Pictured above is Omaha Beach, where tourists now visit in remembrance of D-Day, 55 years ago today. On June 6, 1944, 160,000 allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy, beginning in the early morning hours, in the largest amphibious invasion in history. Casualties were high and fighting was fierce. The goal was the destruction of the German war machine and the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed people of Europe.

Politicians also visit here; the statesmen at the helm of the Allies during World War II now all gone. Only one head of state has military experience in World War II, the Queen of England, and to her dismay, she was not invited to this year's commemoration, having been snubbed for political consideration. This year, at the American Cemetery, the name of the beach below was tripped-over, mis-stated. Every year there are fewer veterans of D-Day, and it will not be long until none are left. The world is changing.

You can learn more about the D-Day invasion; view videos, pictures and posters from history; read further information; and listen to audio files at a special Web Page that is a virtual museum from the US Army, where you will learn that there were so many ships in the English Channel, that one soldier said it would have been simply possible to walk from England to France.