Recognizing and honoring the American troops who gave their lives on D-Day at the Battle of Normandy.

Whereas June 6, 2010, marks the 66th anniversary of the D–Day landings at Normandy, France;

Whereas more than 150,000 Allied troops participated in the Normandy landings;

Whereas approximately 70,500 Americans stormed the beaches of Normandy on D–Day and more than 1,400 of them gave their lives fighting for the cause of freedom;

Whereas the U.S. Army Air Forces alone flew 8,000 planes on more than 14,000 sorties during D–Day;

Whereas more than 4,000 ships carrying soldiers and supplies crossed the English Channel;

Whereas 800 Allied planes dropped more than 13,000 men in parachutes;

Whereas more than 100,000 Allied soldiers made it ashore while 9,000 of their comrades were wounded or killed;

Whereas there are 9,387 graves in Colleville-sur-Mer, America’s cemetery in Northern France where all graves face west, toward America;

Whereas there are 307 graves containing the remains of unknown soldiers;

Whereas within the Garden of the Missing there are 1,557 names of soldiers who were never found;

Whereas captured Germans were sent to American prisoner-of-war camps at the rate of 30,000 POWs per month from D–Day until Christmas, 1944; and

Whereas the Allied landings on D–Day led to the liberation of France and culminated in the ultimate annihilation of the Nazi empire: Now, therefore, be it