FILE - Under the cover of naval shell fire, American infantrymen wade ashore from their landing craft during the initial Normandy landing operations in France, June 6, 1944. More than 2,200 Allied aircraft begin bombing German defenses and other targets in Normandy. They are followed by 1,200 aircraft carrying more than 23,000 American, British and Canadian airborne troops. British forces landing in gliders take two strategic bridges near the city of Caen. (AP Photo/Peter Carroll, File)