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Normandy marks D-Day’s 79th anniversary, honors World War II veterans

World War II reenactors walk on Omaha Beach in Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, Normandy, France, Tuesday, June 6, 2023. The D-Day invasion that helped change the course of World War II was unprecedented in scale and audacity. Nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed on the shores of Normandy at dawn on June 6, 1944. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)
World War II reenactors walk on Omaha Beach in Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, Normandy, France, Tuesday, June 6, 2023. The D-Day invasion that helped change the course of World War II was unprecedented in scale and audacity. Nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed on the shores of Normandy at dawn on June 6, 1944. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla) World War II reenactors walk on Omaha Beach in Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, Normandy, France, Tuesday, June 6, 2023. The D-Day invasion that helped change the course of World War II was unprecedented in scale and audacity. Nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed on the shores of Normandy at dawn on June 6, 1944. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)

By SYLVIE CORBET and TARA COPP / Associated Press 5 min read


ON OMAHA BEACH, France (AP) — An overwhelming sound of gunfire and men’s screams. That’s how World War II veteran Marie Scott described D-Day, as Tuesday’s ceremonies got underway in honor of those who fought for freedom in the largest naval, air and land operation in history.

This year’s tribute to the young soldiers who died in Normandy also reminds veterans, officials and visitors what Ukraine faces today.

On Tuesday, the whistling sound of the wind accompanied many reenactors who came to Omaha Beach at dawn to mark the 79th anniversary of the assault that led to the liberation of France and Western Europe from Nazi control. Some brought bunches of flowers; others waved American flags.

Scott lived it all through her ears. She was just 17 when she was posted as communication operator in Portsmouth, England. Her job was to pass on messages between men on the ground and Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower and senior officers who were supervising the operation.