The story of this place
Utah, the westernmost D-Day beach, was assaulted by the US 4th Infantry Division on 6 June 1944 to open the road to the port of Cherbourg. Strong currents pushed the first landing craft about 2,000 yards south of their target—into a stretch far less defended. Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr., the president's cousin and, at 56, the oldest man to land in the first wave, coolly declared 'We'll start the war from right here!' Casualties were remarkably light, around 200, and troops linked up with paratroopers dropped inland overnight. A museum built into a German bunker now overlooks the dunes.