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Veterans and Leaders Honor 81st D-Day Anniversary in Normandy

Normandy ceremonies honored D-Day veterans with wreath layings, parachute jumps, flyovers at historic landing sites

Wally King, a 101-year-old former U.S. fighter pilot who flew 75 combat missions in World War II, and his granddaughter Kara Houser pay their respects Monday, June 2, 2025 in Colleville-sur-Mer, at the Normandy American Cemetery grave of Henry Shurlds Jr., who flew P-47 "Thunderbolt" fighters like King and was shot down and killed on Aug. 19, 1944, above the town of Verneuil-sur-Seine, northwest of Paris. (AP Photo/John Leicester).
American soldiers go ashore during the Normand landing operations on D-Day, June 6, 1944. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)
World War II veterans, mostly centenarians, who traveled as a group to France with the non-profit Best Defense Foundation, pose for a photo on Monday, June 2, 2025, at a memorial on Omaha beach, which was one of the D-D-day invasion spots on June 6, 1944. (AP Photo/John Leicester)
A black and white photo that Kara Houser, the granddaughter of a World War II veteran, pinned to her chest during a visit on Monday, June 2, 2025 in Colleville-sur-Mer, to the Normandy American Cemetery shows Fred Mitchell Shafer, who Houser said served aboard one of the landing craft that deposited American soldiers on Omaha Beach during the June 6, 1944, D-Day invasion of Nazi-occupied France (AP Photo/John Leicester)

Overview

  • Ceremonial events in Normandy featured parachute jumps, flyovers, remembrance services, parades and historical re-enactments at the five landing beaches.
  • U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth paid tribute at the Normandy American Cemetery by laying a wreath for the 4,414 American troops killed on D-Day.
  • Ninety-nine-year-old veterans Ken Hay and Henry Rice laid wreaths at the British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer.
  • Allied representatives stressed D-Day’s pivotal role in establishing a Western front that led to Nazi Germany’s defeat.
  • Rev Simon d’Albertanson highlighted D-Day’s enduring importance in today’s security climate.