History As It Happens: D-Day Remembered
About the series
June 6, 1944, is a special date in American history. It is synonymous with D-Day, the Allied invasion of Normandy, which took place 80 years ago. History As It Happens takes its annual look back at that brutal day, which became a turning point in WWII.
The invasion is synonymous with heroism, a “great crusade” to end the Nazi tyranny over the peoples of Europe, as General Dwight D. Eisenhower put it in his order on June 6, 1944.
American, British and Canadian forces secured five beach heads. The first wave of U.S. troops at Omaha Beach faced the most ferocious German resistance, an attack immortalized in the movie “Saving Private Ryan.”
The brutal slog across Normandy over the next seven weeks is a reminder for current generations that victory over Germany was not assured in summer 1944. And the price of victory was immense.
- Memories of the Liberation (D-Day at 80) Memories of the invasion were not always so unifying.
- After D-Day The D-Day invasion may have been a turning point in WWII, but the Battle of Normandy alone took another seven weeks.
- What went wrong on D-Day (and how the Germans almost won) So much went wrong for the Allies that day.
- D-Day: history and memory Neither the present-day ceremonies nor the movies tell the whole story.
History As It Happens is available wherever you find your podcasts.
History As It Happens: Memories of the Liberation (D-Day at 80)
Memories of the Allied liberation of Western Europe, beginning on June 6, 1944, are complicated in France, whose people remain deeply grateful yet also pained by the costs of war.
History As It Happens: After D-Day
The central place of the invasion of Normandy in popular memory overshadows the enormous difficulties and utter brutality encountered by the Allies after June 6, 1944.
Ukraine hits Russian oil facilities as President Zelenskyy joins leaders at D-Day events in France
Ukrainian drones struck an oil refinery and a fuel depot in Russian border regions, officials in the targeted areas said Thursday, in Kyiv’s ongoing effort to disrupt the Kremlin’s war machine and as Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sought further Western support in Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II.
As the world marks 80th anniversary of D-Day landings, renewed war in Europe is on minds of many
Leaders, veterans and visitors from around the world paid tribute Thursday to the D-Day generation in moving ceremonies on and around the Normandy beaches where the Allies landed exactly 80 years ago, with the war in Ukraine on the minds of many and a common message that tyranny cannot be permitted to prevail.
WATCH: President Biden greets WWII veterans at D-Day ceremony
U.S. President Joe Biden greeted World War II veterans while in Normandy, France for ceremonies honoring the 80th anniversary of D-Day on Thursday.
Hour by hour: A brief timeline of the Allies’ June 6, 1944, D-Day invasion of occupied France
A brief timeline of events on D-Day, June 6, 1944.
King Charles III honors a generation that fought, died and waited for freedom
King Charles III came to northern France on Thursday to honor the 22,442 British troops who died in the Battle of Normandy.
The sun rises over Normandy’s beaches on D-Day’s 80th anniversary
French President Emmanuel Macron told D-Day veterans on Thursday that ”France will never forget” their battle to liberate Europe from the Nazis.
Remembering D-Day: Key facts and figures about the invasion that changed the course of World War II
The June 6, 1944, D-Day invasion of Nazi-occupied France was unprecedented in scale and audacity, using the largest-ever armada of ships, troops, planes and vehicles to punch a hole in Adolf Hitler’s defenses in western Europe and change the course of World War II.
All eyes on D-Day heroes 80 years later: Biden, world leaders mark milestone anniversary
U.S. President Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and a slew of world leaders — along with a dwindling few of the now-elderly soldiers, sailors and airmen who listened to Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s address on June 6, 1944 —- will assemble again on the North Atlantic beaches of Normandy to commemorate what remains to this day still the largest amphibious operation in history.
WATCH: Paratroopers jump into D-Day drop zone to recreate liberation of Normandy 80 years ago
Hundreds of paratroopers from several nations parachuted into a historic D-Day drop zone in France on Wednesday to recreate the airborne liberation of Normandy 80 years ago.
In France, D-Day evokes both the joys of liberation and the pain of Normandy’s 20,000 civilian dead
Shortly after D-Day in 1944, the American soldiers heading out to more fighting against Adolf Hitler’s forces couldn’t help but notice the hungry French boy by the side of the road, hoping for handouts.
Biden will mark D-Day anniversary in France as Western alliances face threats at home and abroad
United States President Joe Biden will mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion in France this week as he tries to demonstrate steadfast support for European security at a time when some allies fear Donald Trump threatens to upend American commitments if he wins another term in the White House.
WWII’s last surviving vets, many of them now centenarians, return to France likely for one last time
Under their feet, the sands of Omaha Beach, and in their rheumy eyes, tears that inevitably flowed from being on the revered shoreline in Normandy, France, where so many American young men were cut down 80 years ago on D-Day.
Centenarian veterans are sharing their memories of D-Day, 80 years later
World War II veterans from the United States, Britain and Canada are in Normandy this week to mark 80 years since the D-Day landings that helped lead to Hitler’s defeat.
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See the photos: D-Day's 80th anniversary
Gallery: 25 Photos
