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In the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, Americans received word that three years of concerted war efforts had finally culminated in D-day -- military jargon for the undisclosed time of a planned British and American action. During the night, over 5,300 ships and 11,000 planes had crossed the English Channel and landed on the beaches of Normandy. The goal of every soldier and civilian involved in that effort was to drive the German military back to Berlin …

…they faced a maelstrom of bullets. Within ten minutes of landing every officer and sergeant of the 116th Regiment was dead or wounded. Yet, by 10 A.M., as Americans received the first news of D-Day, 300 men had struggled through mortar fire, across the body and equipment strewn beach, and up a bluff to attack the German defenses. By nightfall, the Allies had a toehold on the continent, yet, on "Bloody Omaha" alone, 3,000 Americans lay dead.