Rep. Jimmy Panetta to attend D-Day ceremonies in France

U.S. Congressional delegation to Normandy includes Speaker Pelosi, Minority Leader McCarthy

MONTEREY – On the 75th anniversary of the Normandy invasion, Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Carmel Valley, will be part of a bipartisan Congressional delegation in France to pay homage to the memory of those who fought for the Allies on D-Day, June 6, 1944.

The delegation includes House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy with as many as 60 other members of Congress.

"The servicemembers who fought, bled, and died on D-Day are engrained in history. Seventy-five years later, it remains our duty to not only pay tribute to those courageous men and women of the Allied Forces, but also to be resolute to ensure that the cause for which they served and sacrificed forever lives," said Panetta in an email.

The D-Day anniversary ceremony will be held at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in France located in Colleville-sur-Mer, on the site of the temporary American St. Laurent Cemetery, established by the U.S. First Army on June 8, 1944 as the first American cemetery on European soil in World War II. The ceremony will be held jointly by both the U.S. and French governments.

The cemetery site, at the north end of its half-mile access road, covers 172.5 acres and contains the graves of more than 9,380 of our military dead, most of whom lost their lives in the D-Day landings and ensuing operations. On the Walls of the Missing, in a semicircular garden on the east side of the memorial, are inscribed 1,557 names. Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified, according to the American Battle Monuments Commission.

The U.S. delegation will also take part in the International D-Day Ceremony at Juno Beach which will likely include many representatives from the Allied forces.

The Normandy Invasion was also called Operation Overlord or D-Day with the Allied invasion of western Europe launched with the simultaneous assault of U.S., British, and Canadian forces on five separate beachheads including the landing area code-named Juno Beach.

"The servicemembers who participated in D-Day are engrained in history. Seventy-five years later, we must continue to honor their service and sacrifice as they forged international security and prosperity," said Panetta. "The people of the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, and all our allies honor those brave individuals who liberated Europe and advanced the cause of democracy."