The Normandy landings were the landing operations on Tuesday, June 6, 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune, it is often referred to as D-Day. It was the largest seaborne invasion in history.

More than 160,000 Allied troops landed on the French coastline that was heavily fortified by the Nazis.Thousands of ships and aircraft also supported the mission. On this day, the Allied troops established a substantial presence which gained them strong forward movement towards ending the war. Close to 10,000 soldiers were killed or wounded. Another 100,000 marched into Europe for the final days before declaring victory and the end of World War II.

While all of this was happening in Europe, the day was also graduation day at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.  Twenty one members of the D-Day Class are still living.  Many served to rebuild Europe after World War II.  They went on to serve in Korea and  Vietnam.

More information at www.army.mil and www.al.com