They landed one morning of June 1944 in fury and pain. They knew that this battle was going to be decisive and would mean the sacrifice of young soldiers carrying 30 kilos of gear and 200 francs in their pockets. For thousands of them it was the brutal end to this war, and their courage remains forever engraved on the 9,387 headstones of the Normandy American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer. Below, Omaha beach is quiet again, as the waves sigh, erasing their footsteps in the sand.