While considered hallowed ground in many countries, the historic D-Day landing beaches in Normandy, France, have not been seriously considered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site…until now. Published reports indicate that the landing sites–Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword are being considered.
Even though it is considered one of the largest, if not largest, World War II seaborne invasion that liberated Europe from one of the most evil empires the world has ever seen, sources say that UNESCO never considers battlefields or other war sites in its World Heritage Site evaluations. With the 80th anniversary of the invasion this summer, this most recent application, made by the Normandy Region organization, reveal that UNESCO may finally have a change of heart.
The D-Day beaches include 50 miles of French coastline. Nazi opposition was fierce, leading to many casualties among the Americans, British, Canadians and French who landed on June 6, 1944.
