June 6, 2024 Press Release WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05) released the following statement today commemorating the 80th Anniversary of D-Day: “On this day 80 years ago, more than 73,000 Americans from every corner of the country, along with 83,000 other Allied troops, converged on the coasts of northern France. They prepared for that fateful morning for months and even years, steering landing craft, leaping from planes, storming beaches, climbing cliffs, and mastering every skill necessary to make one of the most ambitious military operations in history a success. Thousands of them trained on the shores of the Chesapeake and the Patuxent right here in Maryland's Fifth District at Naval Amphibious Training Base Solomons. No matter their specific role at Normandy that day, each of those Americans shared one common purpose: liberation. “Today, we honor the heroes who braved those perilous seas, skies, and sands to free Europe from fascism. We pray for the 2,501 Americans and the 1,913 other Allied servicemembers who gave their lives on D-Day. They have our eternal gratitude, as do all who participated in that historic campaign. Few of those Veterans are still with us eight decades later. As their ranks grow thinner with each passing year, we must never forget not only how they fought but for what they fought. They served and sacrificed to ensure the survival of freedom, democracy, and human dignity in America and around the world. “Those principles are under assault again eighty years later. Vladimir Putin's criminal invasion of Ukraine plunged Europe into the largest war the continent has seen since World War II. Despots and dictators continue to threaten America and our democratic allies. This June 6, the defenders of freedom must stand strongly together in the face of these challenges, just as the Allies did on June 6, 1944. May we continue to follow the Normandy heroes' example as we defend liberty where it is most threatened.”