The Price of Freedom

D-Day cost approximately 4,400 Allied lives on that single day. The Battle of Normandy that followed lasted until late August and killed over 200,000 on both sides, plus an estimated 20,000 French civilians caught in the crossfire.

The invasion succeeded because of meticulous planning, Allied air superiority, German confusion, and the sheer bravery of young men who ran into machine gun fire knowing most of them wouldn't make it across the beach. Normandy wasn't won by generals — it was won by 19-year-olds who chose to keep moving forward when every instinct screamed to stay down.