CONWAY — In the early hours of June 6, 1944, Allied forces headed for Normandy launched the greatest combination of sea, land and air power in history. Overhead, 1,200 planes launched an airborne assault, preparing 5,000 ships to land on the beaches of war-torn France. Out of the 160,000 troops and 13,000 paratroopers who landed on D-Day, 73,000 were Americans.
Five thousand soldiers died on the beaches, most of them in the first few hours.
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