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1 1 (September 29, 2006)

handle is hein.crs/crsahpr0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS20900 Updated September 29, 2006 CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web D-Day: The French Jubilee of Liberty Medal Barbara Salazar Torreon Information Research Specialist Knowledge Services Group Summary This report details the Jubilee of Liberty Medal awarded to U.S. veterans by the French government to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy by the Allied forces on June 6, 1994 (D-Day). These medals are no longer distributed by the French government. Included is information on how to obtain this medal from a commercial source and how U.S. veterans may obtain an official Thank-You- America 1944-1945 certificate of participation from the French government. This report will be updated as needed. Normandy Invasion, June 6,1944 The invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, was the largest air, land, and sea invasion ever undertaken, including over 5,000 ships, 10,000 airplanes, and over 150,000 American, British, Canadian, Free French, and Polish troops.' There are no exact figures for the total number of D-Day participants nor exact casualty figures. Some historians estimate that more than 70,000 Americans and more than 80,000 combined British, Canadian, Free French, and Polish troops participated, including 23,000 men arriving by parachute and glider.2 According to estimates from the National D-Day Memorial Museum, the Allied forces suffered 9,758 casualties, of which 6,603 were Americans. Jubilee of Liberty Medals and D-Day The Jubilee of Liberty Medal was first awarded in June 1994 to American servicemen for their participation in the Battle of Normandy. The medals were minted at the request of the Regional Council of Normandy to be presented to veterans attending 1 Brian Williams, Operation Overlord, MilitaryHistoryOnline, at [http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwii/dday/overlord.aspx]. 2 Historical information can be found in numerous sources including D-Day June 6, 1944 (1994) and Citizen Soldiers: The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany, June 7, 1944 to May 7, 1945 (1998) both by Stephen Ambrose; and The Longest Day (1959) by Cornelius Ryan. Additional information is available from the National D-Day Museum located in New Orleans, Louisiana, via the Internet at [http://www.ddaymuseum.org]. Congressional Research Service +. The Library of Congress