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5 months ago
22
Eighty years ago to this day, one of the most consequential military operations in world history unfolded on the beaches of Normandy, Northwest France.
The D-Day landings, when allied forces stormed Nazi-occupied France and changed the course of the Second World War, were commemorated today by President Joe Biden and other world leaders who delivered a poignant message: 'We will never forget.'
But it seems many young Americans have forgotten - or never learned about the landings at all.
'Do you mean like doomsday?' one NYU student responded when DailyMail.com asked if they knew what D-Day refers to.
She was just one of several who were clueless about today's anniversary, or confused D-Day with other World War II events like the attack on Pearl Harbor.
'I believe bombs were involved but I don't know anything else,' said one young woman
Some people were able to correctly identify that D-Day refers to the Allied landings on Normandy
A reporter questioned people young and old in Washington Square Park, which neighbors the NYU campus, about what they knew of the event – and whether it should still be commemorated today.
D-Day occurred on June 6, 1944 when 160,000 Allied troops crossed the English Channel and landed on the beaches of Normandy, beginning a major assault that would ultimately liberate France from Nazi occupation and secure victory in Europe.
About 73,000 troops were from the United states and 83,000 were from Britain and Canada. Many thousands more from around a dozen more Allied nations also played a crucial role in the landings, codenamed Operation Neptune.
'I believe bombs were involved but I don't know anything else,' said one young woman.
'I believe it's the day we won the Second World War,' said another.
There was also some confusion among New York's finest. 'Wasn't that Pearl Harbor?' said an NYPD officer when asked if he knew what D-Day was, before a drawn-out 'ohh, yeah!' when told it was, in fact, the Normandy landings.
Some were able to recall more facts about the events after they were told it related to landings in Normandy.
Those we knew what D-Day referred to also said it was important to educate people about significant moments in history. Several cited the adage that those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it.
A 2004 poll by Gallup found 40 percent of Americans could not identify what D-Day referred to. Young adults were least like to know about it.
U.S. soldiers Sargeant R.A. Forbis, Private John Krisa, and Corporal V.E. Holtz from the Army Corps of Engineers read letters on an unidentified beach captured on D-Day
Allied ships, boats and barrage balloons off Omaha Beach after the successful D-Day invasion. The bloody landing cost up to 5,000 Allied soldiers their lives
American soldiers form the 4th Infantry Division firing a 105mm HM3 Howitzer in the days after the D-Day landings in Carentan, a French town close to both Utah and Omaha beaches
A separate poll conducted this year in Britain found fewer that half of young adults know what D-Day is, while one in five think it should no longer be commemorated.
The survey, by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, polled 2,000 adults and found that fewer than half (48 per cent) of those aged 18 to 34 could recognise D-Day as the day Allied forces crossed the English Channel to launch an offensive on the Nazi occupation in Normandy.
Overall, 59 per cent of those polled could identify it correctly.
A small section thought it was the evacuation from Dunkirk (9 per cent) and 8 per cent thought it was the day of victory in the Battle of Britain. One in ten thought it was the day Hitler's Germany surrendered.
Biden led the commemoration events in Normandy on Thursday alongside King Charles III, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, his wife Brigitte Macron, walk on stage during ceremonies to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day
World War II veterans at the American Cemetery in Normandy - 11 were awarded the French Legion of Honor
The US president used his speech to warn that democracy around the world was at risk and also referred to the ongoing war in Ukraine following Russia's invasion.
The commemorations also provided a hugely symbolic backdrop to talks on how Kyiv can regain ground after Russian advances, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attending an international ceremony with all the leaders.
Biden said D-Day showed the need for international alliances and vowed never to abandon Ukraine in its fight against Russia, in a pointed swipe at his election rival ex-president Donald Trump who has publicly questioned the importance of organizations such as NATO.
'We're living in a time when democracy is more at risk across the world than at any point since the end of World War II,' Biden said.
'Isolationism was not the answer 80 years ago and is not the answer today,' he said.
'Real alliances make us stronger - a lesson that I pray we Americans never forget.'
English (US)