Sinema, American servicemembers and veterans, a bipartisan delegation of Senators, the President, Secretary of State, and Secretary of Defense honored the lives of fallen Americans heroes on D-Day
NORMANDY, FRANCE – Today, Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema joined American servicemembers and veterans in Normandy to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of D-Day. Sinema was part of a bipartisan delegation of U.S. Senators, the President, Secretary of State, and Secretary of Defense.
“I’m honored to join American servicemembers and veterans in Normandy to pay tribute to the brave American heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice on D-Day for freedom and peace,” said Sinema, Chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans’ Affairs.
Sinema participated in the D-Day ceremony and thanked American servicemembers and veterans for their service. Sinema also visited the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial to visit the graves of fallen American heroes and honor their ultimate sacrifice to liberate Europe from Nazi Germany.
As Chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans’ Affairs, Sinema oversees funding for the American Battle Monuments Commission, which administers the Normandy American Museum and Memorial.
Tomorrow, Sinema and her bipartisan group of colleagues will discuss America’s role in defending her democratic allies against aggression and terrorism with senior American military officials and French government officials.
D-Day marks the June 6, 1944 invasion of the beaches at Normandy in Northern France by the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and other countries to begin the liberation of Europe from Nazi Germany during World War II. Codenamed “Operation Overlord,” the amphibious assault landed 156,000 Allied soldiers on the beaches of Normandy by the end of the day.
Around 4,500 Allied troops were killed by German soldiers defending the beaches, including some 2,500 Americans. At the time, the D-Day invasion was the largest naval, air and land operation in history, and within a few days about 326,000 troops, more than 50,000 vehicles and some 100,000 tons of equipment had landed. By August 1944, all of northern France had been liberated, and in spring of 1945 the Allies had defeated the Germans. Historians often refer to D-Day as the beginning of the end of World War II.
The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial is the final resting place of 9,388 American military dead, most of whom were killed during the invasion of Normandy and ensuing military operations in World War II. Included are graves of Army Air Corps crews shot down over France as early as 1942 and four American women.
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