D-Day Anniversary - How To Learn Some More

Today is the 67th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy France on June 6, 1944.

The landings were conducted by the Allies - the U.S., the U.K., France, Poland, Netherlands and others fighting the Germans in World War II.

Here are three ways to learn more about this major, major turning point in the history of the world...

MOVIES

• The Longest Day - a massive film from the 1960s featuring a whole constellation of stars, this movie definitely is a "Hollywood" production. However, it's well acted and communicates the broad sweep of the events of D-Day through the various vignettes that skip between overall strategy, individual personal stories, from the German perspective, from the British and American perspective and more.
• Saving Private Ryan - starring Tom Hanks, this modern film tells the story of one mission that took place during the events of D-Day. Through the telling of the story of one little group of soldier's mission to find one man among the armies fighting in Normandy, you get a sense of what happened at the D-Day landings and after.

BOOK

• D-Day by Steven Ambrose. While the focus here is virtually only on the U.S. participation in D-Day, it is a first class telling of the history from both the high level and personal level. Very readable.

PHOTOS

• There are loads of photos online about the D-Day landings, both vintage from the time of the invasion as well as newer ones taken many years later. So, check them out to see what things looked like (or look like now) where the battles were fought. One suggestion is a set of pictures I took on a visit to the D-Day beaches and other battle sites in 1994. You can see those by clicking HERE.