On the hallowed ground above Omaha Beach, more than two dozen American World War II veterans joined Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other top officials Friday to commemorate the 81st anniversary of D-Day, the Allied assault that helped turn the tide of World War II.

Army Staff Sgt. William Owens was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross at a ceremony for extraordinary heroism displayed during the Allied invasion of Normandy more than eight decades ago.

Soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division were part of a convoy of vintage World War II vehicles weaving through back roads near Carentan, France, where American paratroopers fought just days after the D-Day landings.

A body was found near Wiesbaden Elementary School, according to witnesses.

First Lt. Marciano Angelo Parisano, a Black Hawk pilot, died while he was off duty in Honduras earlier this month.

The commander in charge of Army operations in Europe led Memorial Day tributes Sunday at the Somme American Cemetery, where some of the first American troops to die in combat on European soil are buried.

NATO’s Formidable Shield 2025 features 16 ships, 27 planes and eight ground units from 11 NATO and partner nations. The exercise began a decade ago as a naval missile defense demonstration but has grown to include allied air forces and, in recent years, ground troops.

First Lt. Marciano Parisano, an Army Black Hawk pilot, died in Honduras while off duty, service officials said.

The HIMARS delivery, which gives Estonia long-range strike capability, is the first to a Baltic state and comes amid heightened tensions in the region spurred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. 

AFN is cutting several of its radio programs and will stop offering commercially produced podcasts on its AFN Go streaming service, as part of broader Defense Department cost-saving measures, officials said.