| Original caption: “American troops of the 28th Infantry Division march down the Champs-Élysées, Paris, in the ‘Victory’ Parade.” After the triumphal march down the Champs-Elysées of French General Charles de Gaulle (November 22, 1890 – November 9, 1970) on August 26, attempts on his life and snipers that killed a number of Parisians during the celebrations deeply concerned him. A punitive Luftwaffe air raid that night killed nearly a 1,000 people. While he had not acknowledged the 60,000 Allied casualties since the Normandy landings, De Gaulle asked Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force Commander United States Army General Dwight D. Eisenhower (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969), for 2 divisions to garrison Paris. Eisenhower, still facing a formidable Nazi German Heer (“Army”) and stiffened resistance as Allied forces approached Germany, couldn’t spare the troops. But he did suggest that, on their way to the front, 2 divisions might smartly parade through Paris. The 2 American units chosen were the 28th Infantry Division and the 5th Armored Division. The 28th, a Pennsylvania National Guard Division under Brigadier General Norman D. “Dutch” Cota (May 30, 1893 – October 4, 1971), was at the time engaged in combat. Extricating their platoons from enemy contact on August 28, 1944, the Division was pulled back to Versailles, where they were bivouacked with hot food and clean uniforms. Rifles were cleaned. The next morning, August 29, rain covered Paris that morning. It cleared before the thousands of men of the “Keystone” Division, with the Division’s Tank Destroyers and Tanks 15 minutes later, marched down the Champs-Elysées with 2 dozen men abreast. The effect had repercussions beyond De Gaulle and Eisenhower’s expectations. This photo, 1 of the iconic images of World War II, became a United States postage stamp almost immediately. The replacement of the German occupation of Paris with the American liberation stirred the American and British home fronts and discouraged the Germans, who were already reeling from the recent attempted coup on July 20. Massive press coverage resulted across the world. 5th Armored Division drove their tanks through Paris the next day, August 30, on their way to the front. The 2 divisions took up positions outside Paris on the front line outside of the city. The 28th Infantry Division would be involved in desperate fighting in the Hurtgen Forest and the Ardennes in the coming months before the war would be over. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0420.jpg |
| Image Size | 1,005.22 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2908 x 2329 |
| Photographer | Poinsett |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Signal Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | August 29, 1944 |
| Location | |
| City | Paris |
| State or Province | Île-de-France |
| Country | France |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-111-SC-193197 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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