Les Braves Monument, Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer

Les Braves is a striking stainless steel sculpture standing directly on Omaha Beach, the only artwork installed on any of the D-Day landing beaches. Created by French sculptor Anilore Banon and unveiled on June 6, 2004, for the 60th anniversary of D-Day, the monument honors the American soldiers who landed here on that fateful day in 1944. " Seventeen vertical steel columns emerge from the sand where nearly 35,000 soldiers came ashore, with approximately 3,000 killed, wounded, or missing by nightfall.