COLLEVILLE-SUR-MER, FRANCE -- Today, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, traveled to Normandy, France, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, which occurred on June 6, 1944. 

Traveling as part of a bipartisan Congressional delegation, Senator Reed joined President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, Britain's King Charles III, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, World War II veterans, and other dignitaries to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day, when the Allied forces launched the largest amphibious invasion in history, which became a turning point in the war and helped liberate Europe from Nazi Germany.  The event was held at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer, which overlooks Omaha Beach in northwestern France.

In the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, nearly 160,000 troops from the United States, Britain, Canada, France, and other Allied nations launched Operation Overlord by storming ashore five landing areas along the beaches of Normandy, France.  The first day of the operation, which became known as D-Day, saw approximately 10,000 Allied soldiers wounded or killed, including 6,000 Americans. 

Expressing gratitude and appreciation to the members of the U.S. Armed Forces and Allied troops responsible for carrying out this unprecedented military maneuver that changed the course of history, Senator Reed stated:

“I have the great privilege of honoring Americans who, on June 6, 1944 – D-Day – invaded the continent of Europe to begin the final destruction of the Third Reich.  They were young Americans, and Canadians, and British, and French – they were united in a single purpose: to sustain democracy, to give the world a chance to be peaceful and prosperous, and to give the next generation the opportunity to live in that prosperity.

“There will be a few of the original soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen there. And I hope to say thank you in person. But it is important we recognize and remember D-Day because it stands for the combined strength of democracies versus autocracies. It stands for individual courage and gallantry. It stands for service above self. It stands for those values that make this nation great.

“And I have a special attachment to this moment: I had the privilege of serving in the 82nd Airborne Division and commanding a company of paratroopers. And it was the 82nd who went in first, behind the lines, so that they could secure exits from the beach. They fought tenaciously, sometimes individuals coming together and fighting hard without commanders but with the will of America to prevail.

“We’ll celebrate their story, and the stories of so many others. But now is the moment to reflect and to honor those who served on that historic day.”