Navy SEAL Museum Unveils D-Day Monument in Normandy

The Navy SEAL Museum unveiled a monument park honoring the Naval Combat Demolition Units (NCDU) and Scouts and Raiders (S&R)—predecessors of today’s Navy SEALs and Special Boat Crews—at Omaha Beach, Normandy, France.

The monument is significant, as it will be the first of its kind to commemorate the deeds of the NCDUs and S&Rs at Omaha Beach, where they took extremely heavy casualties during the 1944 D-Day invasion.

The monument unveiled just a week before the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, the largest seaborne military operation in history and a turning point for the Allied Forces in World War II.

The US Naval Combat Demolition Unit/ Scouts and Raiders Monument Park is the result of two years of planning and coordination among the Navy SEAL Museum, the commune of Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, a small group of patriotic French citizens and enterprises, and the SEAL community.

The monument will stand proudly for generations overlooking Omaha Beach in Normandy, near the American Cemetery, so visitors from all over the world can learn the history of these courageous men and pay respect for the heavy causalities they suffered on Omaha Beach.

Commemorating D-Day Heroes

“The deadliest day in SEAL history was June 6, 1944,” said Captain Rick Woolard. The Museum Chairman and retired Navy SEAL added, “Our forefathers of the Naval Combat Demolition Units took devastating losses while clearing the beaches of Normandy so the troops could get ashore on D-Day.”

The monument honors the service and great sacrifice of the men lost on D-Day but will also cover the Naval Special Warfare evolution from Fort Pierce to 21st-century SEALs.

The display includes:

• An original hedgehog from D-Day on Omaha Beach, one of the most common obstacles the NCDU/S&Rs destroyed on Normandy beaches to allow the US Navy and Army landings
• A Living Beach with sand gathered from Omaha Beach and other locations around the world where NCDUs, S&Rs, and their successors, the Navy SEALs, have fought, trained, and died
• Historic scenes from Omaha Beach on D-Day, with inscriptions etched onto granite panels in English and French and QR codes leading to more information
• A map etched in granite of key terrain and reference points on Omaha Beach
• A sculpture of an NCDU Demolitioneer in combat gear emerging from a granite pillar illustrating how they were liveried on the day of battle

The monument is located at 117 rue de la Deuxieme Division d’Infantrie US, 14710 Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, and is officially open to the public following the ceremony on 30 May.

To learn more about the monument, visit here, and for more information about the Navy SEAL Museum San Diego, scheduled to open later this year, visit here.