[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 78 (Thursday, June 7, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1046]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           57TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ALLIED INVASION OF FRANCE

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TOM UDALL

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 7, 2001

  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on the fifty-
seventh anniversary of the invasion of France by Allied Forces, 
commonly known as D-Day. It is fitting that today we honor the brave 
American soldiers, sailors, and airmen who took part in the greatest 
invasion of our history.
  On D-Day, June 6, 1944, approximately 175,000 soldiers from the 
allied nations of the United States, Canada, and Great Britain stormed 
the coast of France in a campaign that proved ultimately to be the 
turning point of World War II.
  On the eve of June 5, 1944, 175,000 troops, an armada of 5,333 ships 
and landing craft, 50,000 vehicles, and 11,000 planes, sat in southern 
England ready to attack Nazi forces stationed along France's Normandy 
Coast in preparation for the largest amphibious assault in history.
  Included in this force were a number of New Mexicans representing the 
proud military tradition of the country's forty-seventh state that 
continues to this day. The tradition carried to the beaches of Normandy 
on June 6th, 1944 began even before New Mexico's inclusion in the 
Union. Residents of the New Mexico Territory fought proudly in the 
Union Army of New Mexico and again as part of Teddy Roosevelt's Rough 
Riders who were victorious at San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American 
War.
  As the dawn lit the Normandy coastline on June 6th, the Allies began 
their assault on Hitler's Atlantic Wall. Many New Mexican troops were 
killed and wounded during the invasion and in the campaigns to follow. 
Men such as Willie Cordova of Truchas, New Mexico, who invaded with the 
90th Infantry division and was subsequently wounded while participating 
in five major campaigns that followed, exemplified the dignity and 
courage of the American Servicemen.
  Since that day on June 6, 1944 new chapters have been added to New 
Mexico's war-time history for future generations to follow, but today 
belongs to those brave men and women of the Allied forces who 
participated in one of the greatest military campaigns in history.
  It is right that we thank them for their bravery, service and 
commitment to liberty around the world. You, American Veterans of the 
Allied invasion of France and the liberation of Europe, will never be 
forgotten, as we owe to you the freedoms and liberties that we so 
enjoy.

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