On June 6, 1944, Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight
D. Eisenhower gave the go-ahead for the largest amphibious
military operation in history: Operation Overlord, the Allied
invasion of northern France, commonly known as D-Day.

By daybreak, 18,000 British and American parachutists were
already on the ground. An additional 13,000 aircraft were
mobilized to provide air cover and support for the invasion. 

At 6:30 a.m., American troops came ashore at Utah and Omaha
beaches. 

Gen. Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower
(October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969)

A plane flies over the American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-
Mer, Normandy.

On June 4, 1942, the Battle of Midway—one of the most decisive
U.S. victories against Japan during World War II—began. During
the four-day sea-and-air battle, the outnumbered U.S. Pacific
Fleet succeeded in destroying four Japanese aircraft carriers
while losing only one of its own, the Yorktown, to the previously invincible Japanese navy.

PORTLAND, Ore. — The 142nd Wing of the Oregon Air National
Guard will conduct flyovers for Memorial Day, part of a time-
honored tradition to pay tribute to fallen military members.

The pilots are scheduled to fly over several cities across the
region as part of a roughly 45-minute flight over the state.

American pilot Charles A. Lindbergh landed at Le Bourget
Field in Paris, successfully completing the first solo, nonstop
transatlantic flight and the first ever nonstop flight between
New York to Paris.

His single-engine monoplane, The Spirit of St. Louis, had
lifted off from Roosevelt Field in New York 33 1/2 hours
before.

On May 17, 1943, the crew of the Memphis Belle, one of a group
of American bombers based in Britain, became one of the first
B-17 crews to complete 25 missions over Europe and return to
the United States.

The Memphis Belle performed its 25th and last mission, in a
bombing raid against Lorient, a German submarine base.

Visitors gather for a private viewing of the Memphis Belle,
a Boeing B-17 “Flying Fortress,” at the National Museum
of the U.S. Air Force.