D-Day: On the Beach

Wading or swimming ashore on June 6, 1944, were some of World War II's bravest soldiers. Whether demolition experts, rangers trained to scale the cliffs of Normandy, bulldozer operators ready to create a new network on roads, or just infantrymen primed to establish positions, these men all shared a strong sense of determination to take the fight to the enemy and take France back from the Germans.

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    personal narrative
    Jay S. Adams Collection Private First Class, Army, World War, 1939-1945 - European Theater.
    • Contributor: Adams, Jay S. - Swope, Thomas A. - Legacies: Stories from the Second World War
    • Date: 1942
  • personal narrative
    Benjamin Alvarado Collection Private, Army, World War, 1939-1945 - Camp Fannin, Texas; Camp Howze, Texas; England; France; Germany.
    • Contributor: Behm, Ronald Thomas - Alvarado, Benjamin - National Archives - Central Plains Region - Bresette, Evie
    • Date: 1943
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    William Jennings Arnett Collection Sergeant, Army, World War, 1939-1945 - Texas; Normandy, France; Germany; European Theater.
    • Contributor: Johnson, Elizabeth A. - Arnett, William Jennings
    • Date: 1941
  • personal narrative
    Preston Earl Bagent Collection Staff Sergeant, Army, World War, 1939-1945 - Camp McCain, Mississippi; Camp Pickett, Virginia; Normandy, France; Belgium; Germany; European Theater.
    • Contributor: Bagent, Preston Earl - Bagent, Robert Preston
    • Date: 1943
  • personal narrative
    Jesse A. Beazley Collection Private First Class, Army, World War, 1939-1945 - England; France; Luxembourg; Belgium; Holland; Germany; Czechoslovakia; Omaha Beach, France; European Theater.
    • Contributor: Beazley, Jesse A. - Self-Interview
    • Date: 1943
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    John William Boehne, III Collection Lieutenant, Navy, World War, 1939-1945 - Little Creek, Virginia; Cornwall, England; Omaha Beach, Normandy, France; Washington, DC; European Theater.
    • Contributor: U.S. House of Representatives/Todd R. Platts - Lebo, Cody - Platts, Todd R. - Boehne III, John William
    • Date: 1942
  • personal narrative
    Leroy C. Bowen, Jr. Collection Radioman Third Class, Coast Guard, World War, 1939-1945 - Atlantic City, New Jersey; South Hampton Coast Guard Radio Station, Long Island, New York; Dartmouth, England; Omaha Beach, Normandy, France.
    • Contributor: Mahal, Arjit S. - Bowen Jr., Leroy C.
    • Date: 1942
  • personal narrative
    Edward Duncan Cameron Collection Private First Class, Army, World War, 1939-1945 - Camp Croft, South Carolina; England; Normandy, France; Belgium; Germany; Italy; European Theater.
    • Contributor: Cameron, Edward Duncan - Cameron, Edward D.
    • Date: 1943
  • personal narrative
    Mortimer M. Caplin Collection Lieutenant Senior Grade, Navy, World War, 1939-1945 - Omaha Beach, Normandy, France; European Theater.
    • Contributor: Caplin, Mortimer M. - Veterans History Project - Wiener, Thomas J. - Library of Congress
    • Date: 1942
  • personal narrative
    Kenneth T. Delaney Collection Sergeant, Army, World War, 1939-1945 - England; Normandy, France; Belgium; Germany; Czechoslovakia.
    • Contributor: Delaney, Kenneth T.
    • Date: 1943
  • personal narrative
    Walter David Ehlers Collection Second Lieutenant, Army, World War, 1939-1945 - Fort Ord, California; Fort Lewis, Washington; Camp Pickett, Virginia; Africa; Sicily; France; European Theater.
    • Contributor: Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation (Cmoh) - Ehlers, Walter David - Unknown Interviewer - Wilkerson, Thomas L.
    • Date: 1940
  • personal narrative
    William V. Loncaric Collection Major, Army, World War, 1939-1945 - France; Germany; Austria; Texas; Kansas; Missouri; Mississippi; Oklahoma; European Theater.
    • Contributor: Loncaric, William V. - Switzer, William S.
    • Date: 1942
  • personal narrative
    Fred Millet Collection Technician Five, Army, World War, 1939-1945 - Camp Blanding, Florida; European Theater; Manchester, England; France.
    • Contributor: Millet, Fred - Healy, Alice - Battle, Lillie - Va Healthcare System, New Jersey
    • Date: 1942
  • personal narrative
    Charles H. Neighbor Collection Private First Class, Army, World War, 1939-1945 - European Theater; Omaha Beach, France.
  • personal narrative
    Ellison W. Parfitt Collection Private First Class, Army, World War, 1939-1945 - United States; England; France; Belgium; Luxembourg; Germany; European Theater.
    • Contributor: Parfitt, Ellison W. - Wheeler, Justin - Blue Star Mothers / Amber Waves of Grain - Babcock, Robert O.
    • Date: 1942
  • personal narrative
    Charles Norman Shay Collection Private First Class, Army, World War, 1939-1945 - European Theater; France; Germany; Austria; Camp Pickett, Virginia; Fort Benjamin Harris, Indiana; Stalag 6-G. Army, Korean War, 1950-1953.
  • personal narrative
    John Robert Slaughter Collection Staff Sergeant, Army, World War, 1939-1945 - European Theater; United States.
  • personal narrative
    Robert Barnes Ware Collection Captain, Army, World War, 1939-1945 - Fort Meade, Maryland; Fort A. P. Hill, Virginia; Florida; England; Omaha Beach, Normandy, France.
    • Contributor: Ware, Robert Barnes - Ware, Robert B.
    • Date: 1940
  • personal narrative
    Dean Milton Weissert Collection Staff Sergeant, Army, World War, 1939-1945 - Fort Crook, Omaha; Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; Fort Sill, Oklahoma; Camp Forrest, Tennessee; Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri; Camp Carson, Colorado; Camp Shanks, New York; Scotland; England;…
  • personal narrative
    Shields Wilson Collection Lieutenant, Navy, World War, 1939-1945 - United States; England; Normandy, France.
    • Contributor: Wrcb-Tv Channel 3 - Willie, Michael Lloyd - Bowen, Sarah - Wilson, Shields
    • Date: 1942
  • personal narrative
    Claud C. Woodring Collection Sergeant, Army, World War, 1939-1945 - England; Omaha Beach, Normandy, France; Belgium; Aachen, Germany.
    • Contributor: Jones, Tamara - University of Toledo - Fisher, Andrew L. - Woodring, Claud C.
    • Date: 1943