June 6, 1944 was the day that the wedge was placed that eventually cracked the Nazi machine and saw the German grip on western Europe broken. Operation Overlord saw 130,000 American, British and Canadian troops landed on the beaches of Normandy. The night before 23,000 paratroopers were dropped behind the German lines.
It was not simple or easy, on D-Day alone the Allies lost more than 10,000 men, leaving about 100,000 to actually begin the march across Europe.
That day alone the Allies flew more than 14,000 sorties. The Germans managed only 500, but it still took 5 days for the Allies to break off the beaches, 6 weeks to fight their way out of Normandy, and it was not until September 16th that U.S. troops made it to Germany.
For those who can make it the D-Day Memorial has a nice ceremony planned.
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