66th Anniversary of D-Day

Today marks the 66th anniversary of the Allied forces invasion of Normandy. The landings along the beaches of the coast of France, at the time referred to as Operation Neptune and Operation Overlord, are now more commonly known as D-Day. The sheer force of those invasions is immense in nature (24,000 airborne troops; 160,000 amphibious troops; over 5000 ships) and make it the largest amphibious invasion of all-time. Allied casualty totals are estimated at approximately 10,000 men with nearly a third of those being fatal casualties. Among U.S. forces, there were over 6600 casualties with 2499 being fatal.

But there were many men who lived through that battle and lived to tell about it. I will share the story of one of those men this week. Also, recently, my family visited the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia and I will post some information and photos from that very moving experience.

Take some time this week via internet or otherwise to learn about the enormity of the D-Day invasion, the effect it had on the outcome of the war and ultimately the free world. And if you know one of the men who served in that battle, please express your appreciation to him. I do and I will.