Today marks the 70th Anniversary of D-Day. The actual term D-Day has been used many times but when most people talk about D-Day, they are referring to June 6, 1944. On that day, 156,000 Allied Troops in the largest seaborne invasion in history stormed the beaches of Normandy and turned the tide of World War II.
During World War II, 1.9 billion people from 61 countries fought, of those 72 million died. Over 16 million Americans served and nearly 300,000 died. But on this day, 73,000 American troops joined with English, Canadian, Australian, Belgian, Czechoslovakian, French, Greek, and other troops. Of those, an estimated 2,499 Americans lost their lives. Yes, the number is estimated. Actual numbers are difficult to come by with an operation of this size. With the typical World War II Vet in his 90s, only 1.7 million Vets are still alive. They are dying at a rate of 600 a day. Please take the time to thank one of them today.
My thanks to my personal heroes, Ike McGrue and Harold Nance.
