d Day Paratroppers

The invasion of Normandy was not one single battle. Some troops coming ashore met little or no opposition. Others, on different beaches or engaged in special operations, encountered determined resistance which put the whole of the D-Day landings in jeopardy.

n the pre-dawn hours on June 6, 1944, 160,000 troops prepared to land on the French coast of Normandy. This would become the decisive turning point in World War II in Europe. Although the war would not end for another year, D-Day was the beginning of the end.

June 6, 1944 was a pivotal moment in the history of World War II in Europe. On that day the climactic and decisive phase of the war began. Those who survived the intense fighting on the Normandy beaches found their lives irreversibly changed. The day ushered in a great change for the United States as well becuse, on D-Day, America began its march to the forefront of the Western world.

In early June 1944, 1.5 million Allied soldiers stand ready in southern England to embark on the largest amphibious assault in military history: Operation Overlord. For tens of thousands of young U.S. soldiers, this war against the Nazis seems almost like an adventure. Very few, if at all, have any combat experience. The sixth day of June 1944 is "D-Day", "Decision Day". American troops land on the coast of Normandy to bring the Third Reich to its knees. Platoon after platoon go ashore without any cover. Only now does the horror awaiting them begin to dawn. From the dunes above them, the Germans open fire on the GIs from bunkers and foxholes.