via the winds this is cnn, the world s news welcome to the whole story. i m anderson cooper on june 6, 1944, american, canadian, british, and other allied forces launched the largest amphibious invasion in history. nearly 160,000 troops landed along five beaches in normandy, france. and what became known as d-day it was a turning point in the war in europe world war ii was fought against fascist regimes and germany and italy and imperial japan the victory of democratic principles was hard. one but 80 years have passed since d-day. and we thought it a good time to take a look at the state of our democracy today over the next hour, cnn s jake tapper looks back at d-day sacrifices. so many young men made on those beaches in normandy that day. and what it means to us now what were we fighting for? we were locked a battle with fascism. we re fighting for our freedom, for the freedom to think as we wish kopan with they gave their life to preserve and protect that constitution the