Utah Beach France
The westernmost of the five beach landings that took place in Normandy on D-Day.
Photo by U.S. Army Europe
The first American boats to reach Utah Beach landed in the wrong place. Strong currents pushed them about 2,000 yards south of their target.
That mistake probably saved hundreds of lives. The stretch they landed on had far weaker German defenses than the one they'd aimed for.
In the first wave was Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr., the 56-year-old son of the former president. He walked with a cane, had a bad heart, and had begged his commanders to let him land with the first troops.
He was the only general to hit the beach by sea on D-Day. When he realized the navigation error, he studied the dunes and made a call: "We'll start the war from right here."
The rest of the landings were rerouted to his position. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for it.
Utah was the westernmost of the five D-Day beaches, on the Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy. It wasn't in the original plan at all.
Planners added Utah and Sword, at the far eastern end, in December 1943. The goal at Utah was to seal off the peninsula and capture the port of Cherbourg at its northern tip.
The Allies believed they needed a big port to keep supplies flowing. Cherbourg was the closest one.
On June 6, 1944, about 21,000 soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division came ashore here. Only 197 were killed or wounded on the beach itself.
Overnight, 14,000 paratroopers had dropped inland to grab roads and bridges behind the beach. Their losses were much heavier, about 2,500 men.
American troops captured Cherbourg on June 26. By then the Germans had wrecked the port so badly that it didn't fully work again until September.
Walk the sand and look for the concrete German bunkers still sitting in the dunes. Visit the Utah Beach D-Day Museum, built around an original bunker, with a restored B-26 bomber inside. Look for the monument to Theodore Roosevelt Jr., who died of a heart attack in Normandy five weeks after the landing.
EARN UP TO
1,400 XP
at Utah Beach — collect the stamp, answer the trivia and finish the quests.
Start your travel passportPoints Available
| Stamp | 750 XP |
| Trivia Questions | 300 XP |
| Quests | 100 XP |
| Trading Card | 250 XP |
| Total | 1,400 XP |
Become Legendary
Complete these quests to earn your legendary status.
Stop at the U.S. Navy Monument and see the list the ships that took part in Operation Overlord.
Walk the beach and imagine what it would have been like to land here on the morning of 6 June 1944.
Higgins Boats were used to land troops on the Normandy beaches. Can you find the monument to these boats?
Find the monument to the 90th Infantry Division. The monument was constructed from granite taken from the Flossenbürg concentration camp, a camp they had helped liberate.
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