[Lee Stewart]

Yankees catcher Yogi Berra took part in the D-Day invasion, as did author J.D. Salinger and slain civil rights activist Medgar Evers, who supported the invasion as part of a segregated unit. Golf great Bobby Jones was 40 when he successfully petitioned his Army Reserve commander to allow him to join the fray and Oscar-winning British actor David Niven was among the first officers to land; he won a U.S. Legion of Merit Medal. Before he played Scotty on “Star Trek,” James Doohan sustained six bullet wounds and lost his middle finger on Juno Beach. Actor Charles Durning—thrown into the first-wave at Omaha Beach—won a Silver Star and a Purple Heart and was among the only survivors from his landing group.

[Pictured: An Allied soldier looks out over the Normandy operations underway on June 6, 1944.]