The French showed their gratitude last weekend for the D-Day invasion 66 years ago that began the liberation of Europe from the Germans during World War II.

D-Day, June 6, 1944, began with 24,000 paratroopers landing in the dark all around Normandy and freeing towns like Saint-Mere-Eglise, located in northwestern France.

In Saint-Mere-Eglise, French actors dressed up like the Allied soldiers who faced tough weeks of pushing out the German troops firmly entrenched all along the French coastal regions.

D-Day is most famous for the bloody battles in which 160,000 Allied troops were engaged as they stormed the beaches of Normandy. It was the largest amphibious assault in history.

One British veteran was thrilled the French were going to such great pains to commemorate the invasion.

"I think it's wonderful," he said. "They have got a grasp of the situation and I think they know what happened. I think it's wonderful and I am glad that I am here to see it."

Some of the reenactors said they're dedicated to preserving the memory of what happened there in an age when many of today's students don't even know who the Allies fought in World War II.