Risky Casualties
When military leaders were preparing for D-Day, they were well aware that the number of casualties could be staggering. To be sure, they were taking a risk, but it was one that was necessary in order to establish an infantry stronghold in France. Several days before the invasion, a top military strategist warned Eisenhower that paratrooper casualties alone could account for up to 75 percent of the total.
Risky Casualties
Counting Deaths
When a memorial was being planned in the late 1900s, there were widely varying estimates of how many Allied D-Day fatalities there had been. The death toll was estimated to be between 5,000 and 12,000 people. It is clear from military records that thousands of troops perished during the initial phases of the Normandy campaign in 1944. Historians estimate that 4,414 allied deaths occurred on D-Day, with 2,501 of those deaths occurring in the United States. They have, however, stated that they are aware that the list is not complete and that they are continuing to count the deaths.
Counting Deaths
