June 6, 1944: D-Day invasion at Normandy remembered

Thursday, June 6, 2019
June 6, 1944 is often considered the beginning of the end of World War II in Europe. On this day, 156,000 Allied troops successfully stormed the beaches of Normandy in occupied France.


RELATED: Trump, world leaders mark D-Day 2019

At 6:30 on the morning of June 6, the troops began invading a 50-mile stretch of beaches. An estimated 4,000 Allied troops were killed in the operation, according to U.S. National D-Day Memorial Foundation.

June 6, 1944: D-Day invasion at Normandy


The event became known as D-Day. There is some disagreement about what the "D" in D-Day stands for, according to the World War II Museum. The most common answer is that both D-Day and H-Hour are military code used to designate the date and time of an important invasion or military operation, with plus and minus signs used to designate time before or after. For example, "D+7" means seven days after the operation. "D-Day," therefore, indicates the day of the operation.

After invading the beaches, the Allies moved east, and by the end of the summer, Paris had been liberated. Less than a year later, Nazi Germany surrendered.
Newsreel footage of the Allied invasion of Normandy


The 75th anniversary of D-Day is June 6, 2019. To mark the occasion, President Donald Trump traveled to Portsmouth, England to participate in a ceremony with Queen Elizabeth II. As part of the ceremony, Trump read from a prayer delivered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt 75 years ago.

MORE ABOUT D-DAY HISTORY

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MORE ABOUT D-DAY'S 75TH ANNIVERSARY

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