Description
The National D-Day Memorial is dominated by a granite arch on which is etched the operations military name, Overlord. The archs height—forty-four feet, six inches—is intended to recall the date of the invasion, June 6, 1944. A curved reflecting pool calls to mind the English Channel. One statue depicts a soldier wading ashore, his rifle lifted over his head, while another shows a soldier dead on the beach. Amid other soldiers—some helping wounded comrades, some rappelling a cliffside—are landing craft and tank tops. Bob Slaughter, one of the memorials organizers, has been clear about the aesthetic intentions of the work: We wanted realism.
