The battle on Omaha Beach is at the forefront of the collective memory for its tragic hours on the 6^th of June 1944. The Utah Beach sector, located at the base of the Cotentin peninsula, has always been the subject of lesser attention. Wrongly so, for, according to General Eisenhower himself, the mission entrusted to Force U was the most complex one to be engaged on D-Day, due to the beach's distance from the other landing zones and the presence of several German divisions.

Along with the 4^th Infantry Division, the 82^nd and 101^st Airborne Divisions engaged in bitter combat in the sector. Its toll of losses, totalling some 3,500 men, illustrates how much Utah deserves further enlightenment.