Completely exposed to enemy fire, a Marine dashes across a field on Okinawa. May 1945.

Source: National Archives (127-N-120562)

An 81 mm mortar crew fires at German positions in France.

Source: National Archives (111-SC-194734)

On June 6, 1944, D-Day in the European Theater, a million and a half Allied troops embark on one of the greatest invasions in history: the invasion of France.

Operation OVERLORD, the invasion of Normandy, France, on 6 June 1944, was the Western Allies' greatest operation of World War II and the finest hour of Anglo-American cooperation. Only the United States and the British Empire could have successfully undertaken the largest and most dangerous amphibious assault in history. The . . .

As seen from a Coast Guard landing barge, the first wave of American soldiers approaches the shores of Normandy, France, June 6, 1944

Source: National Archives (26-G-237)

American soldiers, under German artillery fire, disembark from a landing craft off the shores of Omaha Beach during the D-Day invasion of France. June 6, 1944

Source: National Archives (111-SC-189906 ?)

The news of D-Day reaches across America

A landing craft packed with soldiers approaches the shores of Normandy, France. June 6, 1944.

Source: National Archives (111-SC-320901)

Infantrymen grab sleep where they can. Normandy, France, July 1944.

Source: National Archives (111-SC-191444)

American GI's move cautiously through a breach in a Normandy hedgerow. France. July 25, 1944.

Source: National Archives (111-SC-191997)

American tanks move through the ruins of St. Lo, France, July 1944.

Source: National Archives (111-SC-199771)

Bill Mauldin worked for Stars and Stripes during the war. His cartoons were viewed by GIs serving in Europe.

Source: Copyright 1945 by Bill Mauldin. Displayed courtesy of the William Mauldin Estate.

Joe Vaghi at Okinawa. 1945. Vaghi participated in the D-Day landings at Normandy.

Source: Joe Vaghi

Joseph Vaghi was born in Bethel, Connecticut on June 27, 1920, one of nine children born to Italian immigrants. His father owned and operated a successful cabinetry business and during the war received a contract to make rings for the Norden bombsite. All six boys in the family would eventually . . .

Group portrait of the 6th Naval Beach Battalion taken in Swansea, England before D-Day, 1944. Joe Vaghi, top row second from the left, served as a beach master.

Source: Joe Vaghi

After gaining a foothold on what German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel called the "longest day," the Allied march inland commenced following D-Day. Unfortunately for the Allies, during 19-20 June a force 6-7 storm blew out of the northwest and severely damaged Mulberry A in the American sector. . .

American soldiers in a Coast Guard landing barge near the French coast. They are replacements headed to the D-Day invasion shores. June 1944.

Source: National Archives (26-G-2349)

Last major battle of World War II in the Pacific and the largest and most complicated amphibious operation in the theater. Okinawa, the largest of the Ryukyu Islands and only 350 miles from the Japanese home island of Kyushu, had long been regarded as the last stepping-stone before a direct . . .

One Marine consoles another during a breaking from the fighting on Okinawa. May 1945.

Source: National Archives (127-N-120281)

Marines use a satchel charge to take out a Japanese stronghold. Okinawa, 1945.

Source: National Archives (208-AA-87-A2-8)