U.S. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme Allied commander, talks with men of the American Division on June 6, 1944, before they joined the D-Day invasion.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Associated Press

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U.S. serviceman attend a Protestant service aboard a landing craft before the D-Day invasion on the coast of France, June 5, 1944.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Peter J. Carroll / Associated Press

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U.S. paratroopers fix their static lines before a jump before dawn over Normandy on D-Day June 6, 1944, in France.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ARMY SIGNAL CORPS

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Off the British coast, this huge fleet of warships, transports and landing craft awaits the signal to get underway for the allied invasion of Northern France, June 6, 1944.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Associated Press

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A U.S. Coast Guard landing barge, tightly packed with helmeted soldiers, approaches the shore at Normandy, France, during initial Allied landing operations, June 6, 1944.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: U.S. COAST GUARD

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Troops wade ashore in Normandy the D-day invasion of France, June 6, 1944.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: NATIONAL ARCHIVES

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Some of the first assault troops to hit the beachhead take cover behind enemy obstacles. Landing craft in background try to unload more troops.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Associated Press

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Allied troops struggle through the surf on the obstacle-strewn beaches of Normandy.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Associated Press

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Members of an American landing unit help their exhausted comrades ashore during the Normandy invasion, June 6, 1944. The men reached the zone code-named Utah Beach, near Sainte Mere Eglise, on a life raft after their landing craft was hit and sunk by German coastal defenses.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: U.S. ARMY

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American assault troops move onto a beachhead code-named Omaha Beach, on the northern coast of France on June 6, 1944, during the Allied invasion of the Normandy coast.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: U.S. ARMY

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Troops lie low under the fire of Nazi guns on a beach in France on D-day. One invader operates a walkie talkie, directing other landing craft to the safest spots for unloading.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Associated Press

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American troops move over the crest of a hill.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Associated Press

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The successful assault on Normandy's beaches came at a high cost to the Allies. Thousands of soldiers drowned or were felled by enemy fire, mines and other deadly obstacles.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: UPI / Bettmann

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Men and assault vehicles storm the Normandy Beach of France, as allied landing craft arrive at their destination on D-Day , June 6, 1944.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Associated Press

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Soldiers of the 2nd Canadian Flotilla are carrying bicycles as they disembark their LCI's at a beachhead code-named Juno Beach, at Bernieres-sur-mer, during the Allied invasion of the Normandy on June 6, 1944.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Associated Press

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Wounded British troops from the South Lancashire and Middlesex regiments are being helped ashore at Sword Beach, June 6, 1944, during the D-Day invasion of German occupied France during World War II.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: BRITISH NAVY

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After landing at the shore, these British troops wait for the signal to move forward, during the initial Allied landing operations in Normandy, France, June 6, 1944.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Associated Press

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A view from overhead shows Allied trucks advancing up the Normandy beach while just offshore the massive invasion fleet carrying more troops and materiel waits.

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Amphibious trucks and a half-track follow troops ashore during the World War II opening invasion of France on a 100-mile front along the Normandy coast by Allied forces on June 6, 1944.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: U.S. COAST GUARD

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Allied trucks advance along a beach while under fire on D-day.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: U.S. Navy

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German prisoners of war are led away by Allied forces from Utah Beach, on June 6, 1944, during landing operations at the Normandy coast, France.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: U.S. ARMY

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An American soldier gives a drink of water to a German prisoner wounded in the invasion.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: UPI / Bettmann

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Medical orderlies cover the dead.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: UPI / Bettmann

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A view of Omaha Beach in June 1944 during Operation Overlord, the code name for the Normandy invasion during World War II. Large landing craft put troops and supplies onshore at Omaha, one of five invasion beaches. In the background is part of the fleet of 2,727 ships that brought allied troops from Britain. In the air are barrage balloons, designed to entangle low-flying attack aircraft in their cables.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Associated Press

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