The author would like to thank Henry B. McFarland, a naval officer during the war, who shared his experiences of the Normandy Invasion, and Joan Trew of the Roanoke City Library for her help in background research.

Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to use the following:

Cover art by Steve Stone.

Letter from Eisenhower, courtesy of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum.

Leaflet in German, courtesy of the author’s private collection.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, National Archives.

Troops landing at Normandy, France, ibid.

Nazi underwater obstacles, AP Images.

Troops at Utah beach seawall, Normandy, France, UPI/Corbis.

Wounded soldiers, National Archives.

Soldier receiving medical care, Archive Photos/Getty Images.

Headline on Normandy landing, Roanoke World-News.

Supplies and barrage balloons, National Archives.

Parachutes, AP Images.

Adolf Hitler, Archive Photos/Getty Images.

Hitler Youth, The Granger Collection.

Sherman tank, Popperfoto/Getty Images.

St. Lô, France, Hulton Archive/Getty Images.

Soldier with mortar, Archive Photos/Getty Images.

Battle-wise infantryman poster, West Point Museum Collection, United States Military Academy.

French girl, AP Images.

Soldiers in foxhole, ibid.

Soldiers behind hedgerows, ibid.

Maps by Heather Saunders.