Printed letter to troops from Dwight Eisenhower

75th Anniversary of D-Day

Closed December 31, 2021

To mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day, objects from our World War II collections were put on view in the 3 East Gateway. Featured objects included a rare and authentic marble grave marker of the type used in the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer, France; one of two existing grappling hooks use by Army Rangers at Point du Hoc in Normandy; identification tags; photographs; a canteen; and spent .50-caliber machine gun casings recovered from Utah Beach. The display documented the tremendous human cost of D-Day and told the story of this first invasion of the Battle of Normandy which ultimately liberated Western Europe from Nazi control.