J. Thurmond: “It is appropriate that we commemorate this day which marks a critical turning point in the largest armed conflict in the…”

“It is appropriate that we commemorate this day which marks a critical turning point in the largest armed conflict in the history of mankind. Most importantly, it is fitting and right that we honor the memory of those who fell. The Normandy invasion is a well-documented military action. The scale of the operation--the sheer numbers of people, ships, and planes involved, as well as the effort to coordinate their movement in secret from ports and airfields, and to synchronize their arrival at a place which was defended by a determined enemy--surely defies description. Historians tell us that the largest fleet ever assembled, almost 5,000 ships, crewed by more than 200,000 men, steamed across the choppy English Channel to bring 58,000 soldiers to the invasion beaches. More than 800 planes delivered 13,000 men by glider or parachute. The magnitude of the operation was staggering; we are hard-pressed to appreciate the complexity, and the difficulties which the participants faced. There were 6,600 American casualties on the first day of the invasion, that 6th day of June, 1944.”