June 5 1944 D-Day

On this day in 1944, hundreds of thousands of Allied troops assembled, ready to strike out across the British Channel to invade Hitler's
Fortress Europe. It was the largest invasion force ever assembled but the weather was interfering.
25,000 paratroopers and glider troops were set to be dropped in the darkness before the invasion. They were within minutes of takeoff when the whole thing was postponed.
D-Day, the Day of Days, was pushed back a day, and June 6th would enter immortality.

June 5, 1944 is also the day that Allied forces "officially" entered Rome. (I think the advance forces actually entered on the night of June 4.)

Reportedly, one soldier, upon seeing the Colosseum, remarked, "I didn't know our bombers did that much damage."

An officer later remarked that D-Day knocked the accomplishment off the front pages.

My Uncle fought in Italy. It annoyed him to no end that he and his buds were fighting and dying for months before the D-Day invasion," began the liberation of Europe"

I visited Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery a couple of years ago. Viewing Omaha Beach makes you realize the immense challenge these soldiers faced and the incredible bravery that it took as they surely knew that death was probable. The “beach” is maybe 200 yards wide, then there is shear rock cliff a couple of hundred feet in height, on top of which was located a very large German concrete machine gun nest with many port holes containing many large machine guns firing straight down on them from directly above.

At the American Cemetery, to see the 10,000 white crosses marking the site of American soldiers graves was truly an emotional experience. I was also touched by the numerous French citizens, who after discovering that I was American, expressed their gratitude to America.