In July, National D-Day Memorial Director of Education John Long visited England to participate in an international conference marking the 75th Anniversary of D-Day. He also met with representatives of British museums to discuss collaborative efforts crossing the Atlantic, including the Imperial War Museum in...
One of the greatest changes in the American military between World War I and World War II was, of course, the rapid increase in mechanized power. While trucks, tanks, airplanes, and other powered vehicles were an obvious factor in the American army in 1917-18, the...
The Feathered Fighters of WWII A book recently donated to the Memorial’s research library reminds us that not every hero who flew in WWII earned his or her wings. Some were born with them. It’s not a well-known story, but birds were an important part of the...
Andrew Whitmarsh is an overseas friend of the National D-Day Memorial. As curator of the D-Day Story, a world-class museum in Portsmouth England, Andrew and our staff have corresponded for years. Recently we asked him to let us know about his city in the war,...
How many people died on D-Day? Who were they? These are questions we at the National D-Day Memorial are frequently asked. Sometimes it’s a relative doing genealogy. Sometimes it’s representatives of the military or a government office. So far this year alone, representatives from New Jersey,...
The story of D-Day is made up of thousands of individual stories—many heroic, many tragic, many inspiring, but all significant. We hear a lot of these stories at the National D-Day Memorial; we tell many of them to thousands of visitors. But seldom do we know...
Col. Stephen Pedone of Florida (USAF Ret.) recently submitted to the National D-Day Memorial an account of his parents' role in the D-Day invasion. The role of the pathfinders is not as well known as the paratroopers they guided to their drop zones; the valiant...
One of the tougher parts of working at the National D-Day Memorial is saying goodbye. We all know the WWII generation is departing us rapidly, and many of our friends and supporters who wore a uniform in the war have answered their final role call....
The fire that has devastated Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris has broken the hearts of the world; and we at the National D-Day Memorial share the shock and dismay. Many of our staff and volunteers have visited the majestic edifice; and, serving a mission which...
Our last blog post looked at a couple of messages from top commanders—Bernard Montgomery from Britain and Harry Crerar from Canada—to the men about to embark upon the great invasion. The idea was to inspire the men to do something completely contrary to their natural...