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World

Photos: Normandy ceremonies honor D-Day soldiers

Thousands of U.S., British, Canadian and French troops landed on the beaches of Normandy as dawn was breaking on June 6, 1944.

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Image: ***BESTPIX*** Commemorations Begin For D-Day 75th Anniversary In Normandy

Military re-enactors look on as 280 paratroopers take part in a parachute drop onto fields on June 5, 2019 in Sannerville, France, ahead of D-Day commemorations.

The Normandy invasion was a pivotal moment in World War II, weakening the Nazis' hold on Western Europe after they suffered a punishing defeat in Stalingrad in the east.

Christopher Furlong / Getty Images
Image: ***BESTPIX*** Commemorations Begin For D-Day 75th Anniversary In Normandy

Canadian veterans of the Battle of Normandy stand during a ceremony at a cemetery on June 5 near Reviers, France.

About 38 Canadian veterans took part in the ceremony at the cemetery that contains the graves of approximately 2,000 Canadian soldiers killed during D-Day and the subsequent fighting, one of several scattered across Normandy.

Sean Gallup / Getty Images
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Native American World War II veteran Charles Shay takes part in a ceremony on Omaha Beach in Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer on June 5. 

Loic Venance / AFP - Getty Images
Image: A soldier holds an English flag on the beach of Arromanches

A soldier holds a British flag on the beach of Arromanches early on June 6 during D-Day commemorations.

Joel Saget / AFP - Getty Images
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Members of the French group Overlord 76 plant red roses in the sand in tribute to slain American soldiers on Utah Beach in Sainte-Marie-du-Mont.

Jean-Francois Monier / AFP - Getty Images
Image: 75th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy

Cannons open fire in the Normandy American Cemetery to commemorate the anniversary.

The invasion, codenamed Operation Overlord and commanded by U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, remains the largest amphibious assault in history and involved almost 7,000 ships and landing craft along a 50-mile stretch of the French coast.

Carlos Barria / Reuters
Image: FRANCE-HISTORY-WWII-DDAY-ANNIVERSARY

British army veteran Cedric Wasser looks at the graves of fallen soldiers during a Service of Remembrance at the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Bayeux, Normandy.

Ben Stansall / AFP - Getty Images
Image: Donald Trump, Melania Trump, Emmanuel Macron, Brigitte Macron

President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron and Brigitte Macron watch a flyover at the American Normandy cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer.

Alex Brandon / AP
Image: Donald Trump, Emmanuel Macron

Trump and Macron talk to a World War II veteran in Colleville-sur-Mer.

Alex Brandon / AP
Image: Normandy American Cemetery Holds D-Day 75th Anniversary Ceremony

A visitor pauses to photograph one of the many crosses at the Normandy American Cemetery near Colleville-Sur-Mer, France.

The cemetery contains the graves of over 9,600 U.S. soldiers killed on D-Day and in the Battle of Normandy.

Sean Gallup / Getty Images
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U.S. soldier Sgt. Charles Franck Simon is memorialized in a photo planted on Utah Beach.

Jean-Francois Monier / AFP - Getty Images
Image: British Royal Legion Holds D-Day 75th Anniversary Ceremonies In Normandy

British veteran John Lamont, right, looks at some of the gravestones ahead of a memorial service in Bayeux. 

Leon Neal / Getty Images
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French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May face the new sculpture at the British Normandy Memorial during a Franco-British ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day landings at Ver-Sur-Mer. 

Ben Shread / U.K. Ministry of Defence via AP
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People walk among vintage World War II vehicles parked on the beach in Arromanches.

Thibault Camus / AP
Image: 75th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy

President Donald Trump reaches out to touch a gravestone in the Normandy American Cemetery.

75 years ago: Photos from the D-Day invasion

Carlos Barria / Reuters
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