On the 80th anniversary of D-Day, world leaders and veterans gathered in Normandy, France, to pay tribute to the sacrifices made during the Allied invasion that turned the tide of World War II.

US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden met with World War II veterans at the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-Sur-Mer. At the ceremony, Biden mentioned specific American veterans present and their stories.

King Charles III laid a wreath at the British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer, with a note acknowledging the profound sacrifices, stating, "Our gratitude is unfailing, and our admiration eternal." French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and other world leaders followed, laying wreaths at the event to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day. French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, speaking at Juno Beach where 14,000 Canadian troops landed, expressed France's eternal gratitude, saying, "France will never forget those who fell for her. Never will she forget that on this sand, the blood of Canadian youth was spilled for our freedom."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attended, while Russian President Vladimir Putin was not invited, despite Russia's involvement in the effort during the D-Day landings, due to the war in Ukraine.

The Normandy landings on June 6, 1944, were the largest seaborne invasion in history, with 24,000 American, British, and Canadian troops participating in the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France. This operation began the liberation of France and Western Europe, laying the foundations for the Allied victory on the Western Front.

Take a moment, and remember you don't need to face this at 6am tomorrow, but they did... on the longest day #dday80 #dday #rememberandhonor pic.twitter.com/5lZc4ufFWk

— Tom Rogers (@RogersHistory) June 5, 2024

Normandy veteran Ken Hay recited a stanza from Laurence Binyon's poem "For the Fallen," followed by a moment of silence to remember those who lost their lives 80 years ago. In a symbolic gesture, men from 47 Commando Royal Marines came ashore at Asnelles on Gold Beach, retracing the footsteps of their forebears from eight decades earlier. At Arromanches-les-Bains, the last Dutch Normandy veteran, Max Wolff, received a military welcome and a standing ovation.

Special moment with the last Dutch Normandy veteran Max Wolff during the Dutch DDay commemoration at Arromanches. #DDay80 pic.twitter.com/fmMHzCOmAr

— Klaas Meijer (@klaasm67) June 6, 2024

As has become an annual tradition, French citizens rubbed sand from Omaha Beach onto the gravestones of the 9,386 American soldiers buried there, giving the letters a golden shine to honor those who gave their lives to liberate Europe.

Every year on the anniversary of #DDay, French citizens take sand from Omaha Beach and rub it onto the gravestones of fallen soldiers who gave their lives to liberate Europe.

It gives the letters a golden shine.

They do this for all 9,386 American soldiers buried there. pic.twitter.com/E2F2xgUMyU

— Goodable (@Goodable) June 4, 2024

 Welsh singer Sir Tom Jones, whose grandfather died in World War I and is buried in France, performed "I Won't Crumble With You If You Fall" during the commemoration.

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Mixing history lesson, entertainment and solemn remembrance, the ceremony was a large-scale spectacle involving troops, dancers and martial bands, culminating in a military fly-past. But the stars of the show were the elderly veterans of that campaign who said they were surprised by all the attention: They were just doing their jobs.

"I was just a small part in a very big machine," said 99-year-old John Jenkins, a veteran from Portsmouth, who received a standing ovation as he addressed the event. "You never forget your comrades because we were all in it together," he said. "It is right that the courage and sacrifice of so many is being honored 75 years on. We must never forget."

Jenkins was among 300 WWII veterans, aged 91 to 101, who attended the ceremony in Portsmouth, the English port city from where many of the troops embarked for Normandy on June 5, 1944.

The 93-year-old queen, who served as an army mechanic during the war, noted that when she attended a 60th-anniversary commemoration 15 years ago, many thought it might be the last such event.

"But the wartime generation – my generation – is resilient," she said. "The heroism, courage and sacrifice of those who lost their lives will never be forgotten," the monarch said. "It is with humility and pleasure, on behalf of the entire country – indeed the whole free world – that I say to you all, thank you."

The event, which kicked off two days of D-Day anniversary observances, paid tribute to the troops who shaped history during the dangerous mission to reach beachheads and fight in German-occupied France.

D-Day saw more than 150,000 Allied troops land on the beaches of Normandy in northwest France on June 6, 1944, carried by 7,000 boats. The Battle of Normandy helped bring about Nazi Germany's defeat in May 1945.

Wednesday's ceremony brought together presidents, prime ministers and representatives of countries that fought alongside Britain in Normandy: The United States, Canada, Australia, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Luxembourg, Denmark, France, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Poland.

Trump read a prayer that President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered in a radio address June 6, 1944, extolling the "mighty endeavor" Allied troops were engaged in.

British Prime Minister Theresa May read a letter written by Capt. Norman Skinner of the Royal Army Service Corps to his wife, Gladys, on June 3, 1944, a few days before the invasion. He was killed the day after D-Day.

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