LAKEPORT – The 64^th anniversary of the D-Day invasion will be commemorated this Friday at a special ceremony at the Pearl Harbor Memorial flag mast at Library Park.

The public is invited to attend the event, which begins at 11 a.m.

On June 6, 1944, Allied forces launched one of the greatest invasion forces in history in an attempt to take back Europe from Adolf Hitler's German forces.

Before the soldiers went into battle, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower delivered a message in which he told them, “The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere march with you.”

A US Army history of the event reports that 160,000 Allied troops – with the support of more than 5,000 ships and 13,000 aircraft – fought their way ashore along a 50-mile stretch of Normandy, France, where they encountered the Germans' heavy fortifications.

US soldiers set foot on Omaha and Utah beaches, the British landed at Gold and Sword beaches, and the Canadians at Juno Beach, according to military histories.

Eisenhower also had warned his men that the waiting German forces would fight savagely, and he was right. After ferocious fighting and heavy casualties – the US Army said more than 9,000 men died or were wounded in the invasion – Allied soldiers would hold the beach and begin their march across Europe.

Veterans who survived the “Day of Days” will be honored at Friday's event.

For more information contact Veterans Services at 263-2384.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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