On this 65th anniversary of D Day, various historians and organizations charged with compiling the list of fatalities still have not arrived at a definitive number of Allied deaths. The number is most likely around 4500 according to the National D Day Memorial Foundation that spent years confirming all the names they could, but everyone agrees there are some soldiers whose names we'll never know. Men's bodies were disintegrated by bombs while others washed out into the ocean in the chaos of that terrible day.
Company clerks could not keep track or were themselves killed. The numbers are staggering but could have been much worse had it not been for the planning that went into staging this landing - the eve of the assault, Churchill voiced his fear that 20,000 might die.
The one thing everyone agrees on is that this landing of 160,000 Allied troops was the beginning of the end of a war that had dragged on far too long. Each soldier, whether he made the ultimate sacrifice or went on to help liberate France and the rest of Europe, was an invaluable part in saving the lives and freedom of millions.

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