Beaches of Normandy

June 6, 1944...today we know this date as D-Day. But 65 years ago, the Allied invasion of western Europe during World War II was called Operation Overlord and took place along a stretch of beach on the coast of Normandy.

135,000 men and 20,000 vehicles were brought onto the shores of Normandy via five landing beaches during the night making it one of the greatest seaborne invasions in history. Although the beach today is a peaceful area, the remnants of German bunkers and memorials can still be seen. This humbling video Omaha Beach, Then and Now intersperses scenes of the beaches today along with scenes from the movie Saving Private Ryan.

The world's first prefab harbor was created by the British in Arromanches. On June 7, 1944, 17 old ships crossed the English Channel under their own steam, and were sunk by their crews from bow to stern, forming the first shelter. Then, 115 football-field-size cement blocks (called "Mulberries") were towed across the channel and sunk, creating a four-mile-long breakwater located a mile and a half offshore — a port the size of Dover, England.

Finally, seven floating steel "pierheads" with extendable legs were set up; they were linked to shore by four mile-long floating roads made of concrete pontoons. Anti-aircraft guns were set up on the pontoons. Within just six days of operation, 54,000 vehicles, 326,000 troops and 110,000 tons of goods had been delivered. Arromanches 360º Theater near this makeshift harbor shows The Price of Freedom on its 360-degree screen.

Crowning a bluff just above Omaha Beach, 9,387 brilliant white-marble crosses and Stars of David in the American Cemetery mark the memory of Americans who gave their lives to free Europe on the beaches below. Brigadeer General Theodore Roosevelt Jr. is buried here along with two of the four Niland brothers who inspired the movie Saving Private Ryan.

In the Visitors' Office, an attendant at the computer terminal has a database that can provide ready access to the story of any serviceman who died in Normandy. You can also search for a name in the cemetery at Find a Grave.

Walk past the memorial and cemetery to the bluff that overlooks the piece of Normandy beach. It's quiet and peaceful today, but imagine the horrific carnage of June 6, 1944.

Walk back to the memorial, where you'll see giant reliefs of the Battle of Normandy and the Battle of Europe etched on the walls. Behind that is the semicircular Garden of the Missing, with the names of 1,557 soldiers who were never found. A small metal knob next to the name indicates one whose body was eventually found — there aren't many.

Finally, wander among the peaceful and poignant sea of headstones. Notice the names, home states and dates of death inscribed on each. View a video of the cemetery here. Immediately after the war, all the dead were buried in temporary cemeteries. In the mid-1950s, the families of the soldiers decided whether their loved ones should remain with their comrades or be brought home (61 percent opted for repatriation). Officers (including General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.) were disproportionately left here. Their families knew they'd want to be buried alongside the men with whom they fought and died.