“A Pure Miracle”: D-Day Prayers, by Anne Morse

By Anne Morse, The Stream, June 6, 2025

Anne Morse is a freelance writer living in Maryland amidst towering piles of books.

American_soldiers. U.S. Army

On June 6, 1944, Americans awakened to electrifying news: Allied forces had landed on the beaches of Normandy, beginning the invasion of Nazi-occupied France. Code-named Operation Overlord, the Battle of Normandy involved the largest armada in the history of the world. Some 5,333 ships and landing craft carrying 175,000 men, including 57,500 Americans, took part.

The Second World War had raged in Europe for five years, with Nazi Germany invading and destroying one country after another, slaughtering tens of millions, soldiers and civilians alike. When news of the long-awaited invasion came over the radios of American parents, wives, siblings, and children, they immediately began to pray.

“The reaction of many Americans, whenever they found out what was happening that day, was to attend religious services,” says Keith Huxen, senior director of research and history at the National World War II Museum.

Throughout the day, stores closed and churches and synagogues opened. They filled over and over again as Americans knelt down, bowed their heads, and pled with God to protect Allied soldiers in Normandy, landing on the beaches, climbing the cliffs, or parachuting from the skies. …

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