Navy Sailors, World War II veterans, Vice President Mike Pence and other government officials gathered at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Va., June 6, to honor the lives lost and the service rendered to the Allied nations on the 75th anniversary of the largest sea, air, and land operation in military history.

Speaking at the National D-Day Memorial, Pence said, “They embarked with the eyes of the world upon them and sailed across the English Channel to the beaches of Normandy, carried aloft, as their general [Eisenhower] said, by the hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere.”

The ceremony, titled “The Final Salute,” in anticipation of being one of, if not the last, large-scale gathering of D-Day veterans anywhere, provided today’s Sailors a one-of-a-kind opportunity to honor the service and sacrifice of the veterans who helped create their heritage. 

More than 20 Sailors from Assault Craft Unit Two (ACU 2), the guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG 60), and the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), along with uniformed service members from other U.S. military branches, participated in the ceremony by escorting World War II veterans and keeping guard over memorial wreaths honoring the fallen.  The wreaths were donated by various military units, associations,  and national embassies.  Both Commander, Naval Surface Forces Atlantic (COMNAVSURFLANT) and ACU 2 donated wreaths, on behalf of the Atlantic surface force.  

At the commencement of the ceremony, while a color guard presented the American flag, World War II veterans stood side-by-side with active-duty servicemembers.  Together they saluted and sung along to the national anthem, word-for-word.

“This day is about heroes and the courage it took to keep us free,” said U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie, another key speaker at the event.

The memorial event featured flyovers by numerous military aircraft from all eras of aviation, including World War II, and also included a P-51 Mustang, F4U Corsair, B-17 Flying Fortress, and B-25 Mitchell, as well as a missing-man formation, symbolizing troops lost during the conflict.

​D-Day, June 6, 1944 was the culmination of two years of planning for Operation Overlord, the code name given to the Allied landing at Normandy, France, and the first step to regaining control of Western Europe from the Axis powers of World War II. According to the National D-Day Memorial website, Operation Overlord was the largest air, land and sea operation ever undertaken. The landing included over 5,000 ships, 11,000 aircraft and more than 150,000 Allied service members.

More than 40 D-Day veterans were present at the ceremony, along with their family members and a crowd that numbered in the thousands. Of the 16 million American veterans who served in World War II, 496,777 were estimated to be living in 2018, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

The National D-Day Memorial resides in Bedford, Virginia – the community that suffered the highest loss of lives, per-capita, during the D-Day invasion. According to the National D-Day Memorial Foundation, the memorial encompasses the names of 4,413 Allied Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen who died in the invasion and stands as a permanent tribute to the sacrifice and valor of the D-Day participants.

For more information, visit USS Normandy (CG 60) at https://www.public.navy.mil/surflant/cg60/Pages/default.aspx, 

USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) at https://www.truman.navy.mil/, and Assault Craft Unit 2 (ACU-2) at https://www.public.navy.mil/surflant/acu2/Pages/default.aspx

For more information about the National D-Day Memorial and Operation Overlord, visit www.dday.org.