UTAH BEACH, FRANCE - JUNE 05:  Veteran Frederick Carrier, 89, who served in the 1st Engineer Special Brigade of the U.S. Army and landed at Utah Beach on D-Day, prays for the 171 men of his unit who died at a monument to them on June 5, 2014 at Utah Beach, France. Carrier says he designed the monument, which sits on top of a former German bunker, and built it with the help of 12 German prisoners of war in October, 1944, and that he hid three bottles of Calvados inside. Friday the 6th of June is the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings that saw 156,000 troops from the Allied countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States, join forces to launch an audacious attack on the beaches of Normandy,  these assaults are credited with the eventual defeat of Nazi Germany. A series of events commemorating the 70th anniversary are planned for the week with many heads of state travelling to the famous beaches to pay their respects to those who lost their lives.  (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)