Submitted by United States Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana
WASHINGTON (Jun. 6, 2024) – United States Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) today marked the 80th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, France, as part of a congressional delegation trip. Cassidy joined American and French leaders and veterans at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer for a ceremony to honor the Allied Forces who fought on D-Day. While in Normandy, Cassidy paid his respects and laid flowers on the graves of Louisianans who fought during World War II.
“Eighty years ago today, thousands of young men landed on the shores of France and for many there they remain,” said Dr. Cassidy. “It is an honor to be able to visit the place where so many Americans fought and sacrificed for freedom aboard and at home.”
Background
The National World War II Museum located in New Orleans, originally opened on June 6, 2000, as the D-Day Museum. It focused on the amphibious invasion of Normandy and the contribution of Higgins Boats, which ushered Allied troops ashore on D-Day. Developed by Andrew Jackson Higgins of New Orleans, the Higgins Boat was adapted from shallow-water work boats that Higgins had been manufacturing to support oil and gas exploration in Louisiana. The Higgins Boat changed the way the war was fought by allowing troops to land on beaches instead of at heavily guarded ports. President Eisenhower would go on to say that Higgins was “the man who won the war for us.”
