Roanoke, Va. ? The National D-Day Memorial Foundation filed for bankruptcy to protect the $25 million monument from creditors while it contends with massive debt, foundation officials said Friday.

The memorial, which President Bush helped dedicate June 6, 2001, has trimmed a $7 million debt to about $4 million since acknowledging its financial troubles last year.

It sought to reorganize with bankruptcy protection when creditors continued to push for a regular payment agreement, said Peter Viemeister, chairman of the foundation’s board of directors.

“The creditors are getting anxious,” Viemeister said. “But before we can pay them, we need to have the money.”

The Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing was made in U.S. District Court in Lynchburg. The memorial is based in west-central Virginia, about 30 miles east of Roanoke.

Foundation President William A. McIntosh said the memorial will stay open and visitors should not notice a change. More than 400,000 people have visited the memorial.

“We recognize the value of the memorial to the entire country. Reorganization does allow the foundation to perform its memorial mission while obtaining funds to pay all creditors equitably,” McIntosh said.

The memorial, which honors the Allied soldiers who fought in the June 6, 1944 Normandy invasion, was in trouble even before it was dedicated last year. Hoping to complete the granite arch and sprawling campus before many aging veterans died, foundation members agreed to build on borrowed money.

Their hopes of community generosity and patriotism keeping the memorial afloat ended this summer when two of its top creditors filed lawsuits in an attempt to force the foundation to pay up. The foundation estimates it still owes $1.6 million to Coleman Adams Construction, Inc., and $869,000 to Dickson & Associates, the memorial’s main architect.

Federal authorities also began investigating the memorial’s finances last year.

In June, former president Richard B. Burrow was indicted on four counts of fraud. Burrow pleaded innocent to the charges and faces trial in December.

Meanwhile, the foundation continues to receive small checks from community leaders and organizations.