Now bent with age, a dwindling number of WWII veterans joined a new generation of leaders on the shores where they landed 80 years ago.
June 6, 1944, began with Allied aircraft bombing German defenses in Normandy, followed by some 1,200 aircraft who carried airborne troops.
With vets and world dignitaries gathering in Normandy to commemorate the landings' 80th anniversary, here's a look at how Operation Overlord unfolded.
Vets, many of them centenarians and likely returning for one last time, pilgrimaged to what was the bloodiest of five Allied landings on June 6, 1944.
