Particle.news
Download on the App Store
33 ARTICLES
·
last wk.

Veterans Return to Normandy to Mark 81st D-Day Anniversary

Ceremonies on the Normandy coast brought together the few remaining World War II veterans to underscore the enduring lessons of D-Day.

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).
Image
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)

Overview

  • Commemorations encompassed parachute jumps, parades and tributes by thousands of attendees on Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword beaches
  • U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Lt. Gen. Jason T. Hinds presided over wreath-laying at Colleville-sur-Mer American Cemetery, where nearly 9,400 American graves overlook Omaha Beach
  • Veteran contingency dwindled to about two dozen participants this year, and only an estimated 66,000 U.S. World War II veterans remain alive
  • Centenarian veterans shared firsthand accounts with schoolchildren and visitors, highlighting the personal sacrifices behind Operation Overlord’s largest-ever amphibious invasion
  • Organizers and historians stressed the critical role of D-Day’s planning, including Operation Fortitude deception tactics, in establishing the Allied foothold that led to Germany’s defeat