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World & Nation

70th anniversary of D-day: What does the ‘D’ stand for?

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U.S. serviceman attend a Protestant service aboard a landing craft before the D-Day invasion on the coast of France, June 5, 1944.  (Peter J. Carroll / Associated Press)
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Allied troops struggle through the surf on the obstacle-strewn beaches of Normandy.  (null / Associated Press)
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American assault troops move onto Omaha Beach.  (Anonymous / Associated Press)
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A view from overhead shows Allied trucks advancing up the Normandy beach while just offshore the massive invasion fleet carrying more troops and materiel waits.  (AP / Los Angeles Times)
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Allied trucks advance along a beach while under fire on D-day.  (Unknown Photographer / Los Angeles Times)
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Remains of the Arromanches harbor in Normandy, France, are seen April 8, 2014. The portable temporary harbor was established by the British during World War II to facilitate offloading of cargo onto the beaches during the Allied invasion of Normandy.   (David Vincent / Associated Press)
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The remains of the Arromanches harbor in Normandy are seen April 8, 2014.   (David Vincent / Associated Press)
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The remains of a World War II German bunker is seen on Utah Beach, in Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, on April 24, 2014. Utah is the westernmost beach of the five landing areas of the Normandy invasion.   (David Vincent / Associated Press)
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An April 8, 2014, photo of the Pointe du Hoc near Caen in Normandy, France. It gave German troops an elevated vantage point from which to fire on Utah Beach and Omaha Beach.  (David Vincent / Associated Press)
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The American war cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer. The cemetery, seen on April 8, 2014, overlooks Omaha Beach, one of the landing sites of the Normandy invasion.   (David Vincent / Associated Press)
By David Zucchinowriter 
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Why is it called D-day?

Decision Day? Doomsday? Dreadnought Day?

None of the above. The D simply stands for “day.”

The designation was traditionally used for the date of any important military operation or invasion, according to the National World War II Museum.

Thus, the day before June 6, 1944, was known as D-1 and the days after were D+1, D+2, D+ and so on.

D-day, which had the code name Operation Overlord, reversed the course of World War II, breaking the Nazis’ grip on France and setting the stage for the liberation of Europe.

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The 70th anniversary of the invasion will be observed Friday in Normandy by D-day veterans, President Obama and other world leaders.

The National World War II Museum in New Orleans on Friday begins a two-day commemoration of the anniversary. A moment of silence will be observed at 6:30 a.m. to honor the beginning of the invasion at that hour 70 years earlier.

D-day was the largest amphibious invasion in history, with more than 4,000 ships, 11,000 warplanes and 156,000 Allied troops. More than 4,400 Allied troops died that day.

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World & Nation
David Zucchino

David Zucchino is a former national correspondent for the Los Angeles Times. He was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for reporting from South Africa. He’s a four-time Pulitzer Prize finalist for coverage of Iraq, Lebanon, Africa and inner-city Philadelphia. He has reported from more than two dozen nations, with a recent focus on Afghanistan, Libya and Iraq. He is the author of the books “Thunder Run” and “Myth of the Welfare Queen.” Zucchino left The Times in 2015.

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