Best Defense Foundation Honor Walk to Commemorate the 77th Anniversary of D-Day
DESCRIPTION
Join Us and others around the world.
Create or join a Team by selecting the Team option above.
The team captain can register for a free or a paid registration and invite people to join and allow them to purchase additional items (T-shirt,hat,or water bottle ect.)
To become an official BDF host, you can select the host option above.
The Official Host is paying for his/her Package which includes: 1 BDF Custom Flag, 1 D-DAY Commemorative T-Shirt, 1 BDF Water Bottle, BDF Sticker Pack, 25 WWII Veteran Cards. On JUNE 5 @1PM EST There will be an Official Hosts Zoom meeting with a D-DAY Veteran that you will be able to join.
More details: By becoming an Official Host, you have the ability to invite up to 20 friends and family to join your team to do a free walk or to purchase their own items (hat, T-shirt,coin,water bottle, etc. As an Official Host, you set your own meeting location, route, and time for your walk. The official Host will be able to have his own team and to invite people to join. We have have a link to all the cities around the world of all our official D-DAY Honor Walk Hosts.
The BDF Team will be available for any questions or concerns that you may have. info@bdf.org 858-367-0079
Participants are encouraged to show their patriotism and respect to honor those who came before us that provided the freedoms we all enjoy today.
We challenge you to honor and recognize a fallen hero who made the ultimate sacrifice KIA (killed in action) on June 6, 1944.
Chula Vista Brewery
FRANCE
Charles Norman Shay Monument
Rue de la 2ème Division d'Infanterie
14710 Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer
Host: Gwenael Jacob
Start Time: 6:15am
NETHERLANDS
Margraten City Hall
Amerikaplein 1
6269 DA Margraten
Host: Ronald Stassen
Start Time: 12pm (noon)
The assault began shortly after midnight on June 6, 1944, with an air bombardment consisting of more than 2,200 allied bombers attacking targets along the coast and inland. Clouds hindered the air strikes, however, and the coastal bombing at Omaha Beach was particularly ineffective. More than 24,000 American, British, and Canadian airborne assault troops and 1,200 aircraft followed the air bombardment. At 1:30 a.m. the 101st (U.S.) Airborne Division began landing behind Utah beach to secure the exits from the beach, and the 82d (U.S.) Airborne Division began landing at 2:30 a.m. to secure bridges on the right flank of the beachhead. Thick cloud cover also hindered the air insertion, and many of the units missed their landing zones, often by miles. On the coastline, the second phase began at 5:30 a.m. as forces when six Allied divisions and numerous small units began landing on five beaches. The Allies landed more than 160,000 troops at Normandy, of which 73,000 were American. There were also 83,115 British and Canadian forces who landed on Gold, Juno, and Sword beaches.
By the end of the first day, none of the assault forces had secured their first-day objectives. Allied casualties on June 6 have been estimated at 10,000 killed, wounded, and missing in action: 6,603 Americans, 2,700 British, and 946 Canadians. Over the following days the Allies gradually expanded their tenuous foothold. When a failed German counterattack on August 8 resulted in more than 50,000 German troops being encircled by Allied forces near the town of Falaise, the tide turned, and the Allies broke out of Normandy on August 15. Once out of Normandy, Allied forces advanced quickly and liberated Paris on August 25. German forces retreated across the Seine five days later, marking the end of Operation Overlord.
The cost of the Normandy campaign was high on both sides. From D-day through August 21, the Allies landed more than two million men in northern France and suffered more than 226,386 casualties: 72,911 killed/missing and 153,475 wounded. German losses included over 240,000 casualties and 200,000 captured. Between 13,000 and 20,000 French civilians died, and many more were seriously wounded.
