June 6, 2009 marked the 65th anniversary of the D-Day Normandy, France landings and the liberation of Normandy. Code-named Operation Overlord, the mission remains the largest seaborne invasion in history, involving nearly three million troops crossing the English Channel from England to Normandy in occupied France. Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower told the troops before they embarked on the invasion “you are about to embark upon a great crusade, toward which we’ve striven these many months.” More than 300 planes dropped 13,000 bombs over Normandy in advance of the invasion. Six parachute regiments, with more than 13,000 men, also went ahead to cut railroad lines, blow up bridges, and seize landing fields. By nightfall on June 6, more than 9,000 Allied soldiers were dead or wounded, but more than 100,000 had made it ashore and secured French coastal villages. each year, fewer survivors remain, but these brave men gathered at Sunset Beach in Cape May to honor their victory and to be honored for their service.
