Welcome to the 68th anniversary of “D-Day”! On this day in 1944, about 176,000 allied
troops stormed the coasts of Normandy France in the largest amphibious invasion
of all time as the Allied forces invaded mainland Europe in WW-II.
World War II began in the German invasion of Poland in 1939.
France had been under German control
since its invasion began in May of 1940, ending only a month later. The entry of the U.S. after the Pearl Harbor
attack at the end of 1941 made it a true World War. Now, nearly 5 years after its beginning and
nearly 2 ½ years of round-the-clock bombing campaigns, allied forces were at
last entering mainland Europe.
In the very early morning hours of June 6, about 18,000 parachute
and glider troops were dropped behind enemy lines. At dawn, supported by over 11,000 aircraft,
about 6000 ships and landing craft carried troops, armor, and supplies toward
the shores of France. The landing areas had
been divided into code-named areas: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. Resistance was encountered at all the
locations, but by far the worst was at Omaha beach where over 2000 casualties
were sustained during the morning hours.
Total Allied casualties for this one day are estimated at over 10,000,
including over 6600 Americans.
Within 5 days (D+5), over 326,000 troops, 54,000 vehicles,
and 104,000 tons of supplies had been landed on the continent and in less than
a year, Hitler would be dead and the war in Europe over. The formal surrender was signed on May 8th inaugurating "VE Day" (Victory in Europe).
If you can make time today or in the near future, the recent movies
"Saving Private Ryan" and "Band of Brothers" do an excellent job of
commemorating these events and giving at least some inkling of what took
place that morning. Let us remember … and teach our children to
remember this day: the courage, the
sacrifices, the resolve, and the evil which made it necessary – lest we learn
nothing from these awesome and awful events of history.
- Tim -
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