D-Day Anniversary

General Dwight D. Eisenhower gives the order of the day, "Full victory - nothing else," to paratroopers at a location in England, just before they boarded their airplanes to participate in the first assault in the invasion of the continent of Europe, June 6, 1944.

While under attack of heavy machine-gun fire from the German coastal defense forces, American soldiers wade ashore off the ramp of a U.S. Coast Guard landing craft, June 6, 1944, during the Allied landing operations at Normandy.

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

British troops move on the Normandy shore from their landing craft, June 6, 1944, during the D-Day invasion of German occupied France during World War II.

Under the cover of naval shell fire, American infantrymen wade ashore from their landing craft during the initial Normandy landing operations in France, June 6, 1944.

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

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

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.

Men of the American assault troops of the 16th Infantry Regiment, injured while storming a coastal area code-named Omaha Beach during the Allied invasion of Normandy, wait by the chalk cliffs at Collville-sur-Mer for evacuation to a field hospital for further treatment, June 6, 1944.

Sitting in the cover of their foxholes, American soldiers of the Allied Expeditionary Force secure a beachhead during the initial Normandy landing operations in France, June 6, 1944. In the background amphibious tanks and other equipment crowd the beach, while landing craft bring more troops and material ashore.

U.S. reinforcements wade through the surf as they land at Normandy in the days following the Allies' June 6, 1944, D-Day invasion of occupied France.

Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan and former first lady Nancy Reagan walk through the thousands of graves in the American Cemetery in Omaha Beach, Normandy, France, June 6, 1984, during ceremonies for the 40th anniversary of the D-Day allied invasion of occupied France.