MADISON, Wis. — As the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II approaches, the Wisconsin Veterans Museum opens a new exhibit about the pivotal battle that turned the course of the war in the European theatre in favor of the Allies. The exhibit, D-Day, opens Friday in Madison.

The D-Day exhibit features paintings from master of the historical narrative, Keith Rocco. Four dioramas show with detail the struggle and strife on the beaches of Normandy. Paired with stories and artifacts of Wisconsin men who survived the D-Day invasions, this exhibit presents the battles from the perspective of the soldiers, sailors, and airmen who were there.

Wisconsin veterans’ D-Day stories in the exhibit include those of Stoughton’s Ralph Zwicker who performed a reconnaissance mission near Omaha Beach just three hours prior to the invasion on June 6,1944, Carl Hemauer of Stockbridge who parachuted in behind enemy lines, was captured, held as a POW, and later escaped to re-join his unit, and Dr. John Mendenhall of Madison who set up a hospital in a town near the beach heads.

These and several more accounts and artifacts will be on view through Jan. 3.

As a renowned painter of historic events, Rocco’s work will look familiar to museum visitors. In 1992, he painted murals for the Antietam, Buna, and Battle of the Bulge dioramas in the Wisconsin Veterans Museum galleries. Originally from Illinois, Rocco now lives and paints in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

The Wisconsin Veterans Museum is at 30 W. Mifflin St., Madison.