An American brigadier general said, “There are only two kinds of soldiers left on this beach; those who are dead and those who will die! . The landing on Omaha beach on June 6, 1944, was the bloodiest of Operation Neptune. The preliminary bombings left almost all of the defenses intact, and the amphibious tanks sunk in the rough seas. Once out of the landing crafts, the soldiers advanced several hundred yards unprotected in waist-deep water. From its fifteen bastions, the German defense also benefited from a perfect fire angle. Standing on the cliffs' slopes allows realizing the advantage the Nazi soldiers had. Today, the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial of Colleville-sur-Mer overlooks Omaha Beach.