Friday, June 6, marks 81 years since the allied forces of World War II stormed the beaches of Normandy, France on D-Day. The amphibious assault – codenamed Operation Overlord – involved landing approximately 160,000 Allied soldiers on the French beaches, resulting in 4,427 casualties – according to the National D-Day Memorial Foundation.

"If we forget what the country and all those people were able to do, then we kind of are forgetting how great the country used to be."