To commemorate the 68th anniversary of D-Day — the Allied invasion that paved the way for the end of World War II in Europe — a statue honoring Maj. Dick Winters and his fellow front-line leaders was unveiled in France.

The story of Winters and his fellow soldiers of Easy Company of the 101st Airborne Division was the subject of the 2001 miniseries, "Band of Brothers."

The 12-foot bronze statue was unveiled in the Normandy village of Sainte-Marie-du-Mont and shows Winters with his weapon at the ready. Winters, a native of Ephrata, Pa., who died last year at age 92, agreed to serve as the statue’s likeness after monument planners said they would dedicate it to the memory of all junior U.S. military officers who served that day.

"There were many Dick Winters in this war, and all deserve the bronze and glory of a statue," former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge said at the ceremony.

Also attending were several veterans of the D-Day invasion, including two from Easy Company, Al Mampre and Herb Suerth Jr.

During the ceremony, World War II-era military aircraft flew overhead, including a U.S. artillery spotting plane just like those that would have darted through the skies on D-Day.

The statue was made near Boulder, Colo., and moved to Sainte-Marie-du-Mont. Winters and his fellow troops parachuted into the area after midnight on June 6, 1944, and later destroyed four German 105-millimeter guns that threatened the Allied invasion force.

Master Sgt. Frank Barnett, 37, a paratrooper from Anniston, Ala., serving at the U.S. Air Force base in Ramstein, Germany, attended the ceremony with other members of the 435th Air Ground Operations Wing.

"It’s important for us on the airborne side to remember everything they did," Barnett said. "They are the Greatest Generation."