Thousands of Americans and Germans gathered at Clay Kaserne over the weekend to commemorate one of the largest and most significant humanitarian missions in history. 

Suresnes, France, Sept. 13, 1952: Soldiers from the 18th Infantry Regiment take part in a dedication ceremony at the military cemetery at Suresnes, just outside of Paris.

Sadr City, Iraq, June 6, 2008: Soldiers from 1st Platoon, “C” Company, Task Force 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, exit an industrial building after conducting a search in the southern portion of Sadr City.

Yokota High School, Japan, June 8, 2005: Yokota High School senior class president Jamie Monahan, left, takes a picture of a friend receiving a diploma during the school’s graduation ceremony at Fussa City Civic Hall.

Frankfurt, Germany, October 1957: Actress Jayne Mansfield signs the cast of young Roger Perkins, one of the hundreds of fans who gathered at the Frankfurt Football Stadium, Oct. 5, 1957.

Nui Ba Den, Vietnam, Oct. 14, 1969: Soldiers atop Black Virgin Mountain (Nui Ba Den) cover their ears as they fire off a mortar at Viet Cong positions lower down the mountain.

Nürburg, Germany, June 6, 2003: Metal fans flash the “devil’s horn” at Rock am Ring 2002.

With all the color, sound, and solemnity of full military honors, U.S. Army Tech Sgt. Kenneth J. McKeeman of Waterbury was finally laid to rest 80 years after he was killed in France during World War II.

Here are some memorable moments captured by Stars and Stripes from the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

Besmaya training site, Iraq, April 26, 2015: U.S. Army advisers run to safety after lighting tires for realistic effects during an Iraqi army exercise at Besmaya, a coalition training site south of Baghdad.

Among the 1,300 paratroopers from six nations who jumped into Normandy on Sunday were two Americans whose family members helped liberate France 80 years ago.

Tokyo, 1960: George Rosenblatt and Leo Kuehnen take a photograph of a Japanese woman holding up her parasol.

Saint-Avold, France, May 20, 1971: A visitor to the Lorraine American Cemetery near Saint-Avold walks between the graves of some of the 10,481 American war dead buried there.

Five U.S. Army nurses Saturday [June 10, 1944] became the first Allied women to land in France when they assisted in evacuating by air 14 stretcher cases from the Cherbourg peninsula.

“5 U.S. Army Nurses Become First Allied Women to Land,” read the headline accompanying this photo in Stars and Stripes’ London edition, June 12, 1944.

President Joe Biden paid tribute to American and allied troops at a ceremony in Normandy on Thursday to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day, drawing parallels between the struggles against tyranny during World War II and Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.

Naval guns and Army rifles combined to win one of the toughest beachheads the Allied forces have established on the Normandy coast during the past 12 hours.

Sheer guts won a foothold on the beach we are attacking. Salt-stained small boatmen, returning from the first wave, are almost reverent in their praise of American Infantrymen who charged the beaches.