June 6, 1944. The Allies go All-In.

Jun 6, 2023, 8:48 AM

We all look back through the lens of history now, and say that June 6, 1944, the Allied invasion of continental Europe at Normandy, France changed the course of the world. And, it certainly did, as Operation Overlord, as it was code named, was successful. But, that success was far from a foregone conclusion.

The Allies had done a serious disinformation campaign ahead of the invasion, doing their best to convince Adolph Hitler that the landings would occur at Calais, not Normandy. They even went so far as to construct a wood and paper invasion force that looked real enough from air reconnaisance that Hitler DID move some of his elite defense forces to that region. But, as anyone who actually survived the storming of the beaches that day would attest, there were still more than enough Germans in Normandy to do the job of defending the coast.

So tenuous was the plan, and the chances of success, that General Dwight D. Eisenhower drafted two completely different letters to be used for speeches to the American people. One was the one he used after the invasion was successful. The other, thankfully never used, was to be broadcast if the invasion had failed.

Now, the invasion WAS ultimately successful, but it certainly DID have its local failures. The plans had called for parachutists to land behind the German lines, and muster up and take out some of the shore defenses. But, the target drops were badly missed, and the German defenses, as our boys found out, were all intact and raining death down on all the beaches. This, after over 13,000 bombs had been dropped, and ship to shore batteries had bombarded the German defenses. They were well entrenched in their bunkers and pillboxes, to say the least.

Omaha Beach, of the five beaches, was the most deadly killing ground, with over 2,400 Allied troops being killed, wounded or missing that day. Our brave young men were just target practice for the German machine guns, as soon as the gates on their Higgins boat landing crafts dropped. Surviving veterans say that the first 20+ minutes of "Saving Private Ryan" was for the most part realistic, but even it did not completely depict the carnage. Our men were invading a 50 mile long swath of heavily fortified, heavily defended territory, with many knowingly being sacrificed, so that the Germans could not concentrate their defenses on any one small area. But this was little solace to those being cut down on Omaha Beach. It is almost a literal miracle that any did survive, and eventually storm the cliffs and secure, as it was called at the time, "a tenuous foothold on the continent of Europe".

This is not in any way intended to lessen the contribution of any soldier involved in any other areas on D-Day. There are no "easy" wars. So, if any of us who are of a certain age, that had parents or grandparents in that conflict, or later ones, get highly upset when we see people disrespecting the flag of this country of ours, using it as a vehicle of protest for some namby pamby cause or other, you think of the cost in human lives that was paid on this day in 1944, and many other days, to preserve your right to be an idiot. And then maybe, just maybe, you will decide that you can find another way to try and get your point across.

Thank You to the families of all who served in "The Greatest Generation". They are mostly gone now, but so many of them are forever suspended in time at the age of 18, 19, or even younger, having never made it off the beaches of Normandy 79 years ago today. As per the ENDING of "Saving Private Ryan", WE should all try to be "good men", and "good women" in their honor.

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Went there with my wife about 5 years ago. In the cemetery, even on a bright summer day, with kids running about, the silence and stillness is palpable. The French actually passed legislation to let us make it, like the American embassy, American soil.

Some of those men had about 20% chance of surviving the first five minutes. My Dad came into France on the Normandy Beach at St. Marie du Mont, thankfully not until September 1944 aftre it was secured, but still was wounded and lost an eye in a mine explosion in the Rhineland. Whatever your politics, you'll have to excuse me if some ####### starts talking up Nazis and I go batXXXX.

I do not have the skill to reproduce the picture of the statue, but it is a statute of a figure rising up, captioned "The Spirit of American Youth, Rising From the Waves."

The circle of columns around it bears this inscription: “This embattled shore, portal of freedom, is forever hallowed by the ideals, the valor and the sacrifices of our fellow countrymen."

If it does not make you wobbly, I don't know what. It is worth going to see if you can manage it.

June 6, 1944. The Allies go All-In.

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We visited Normandy and the cemetary last month.

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Re: June 6, 1944. The Allies go All-In.

Well written.

Sometimes I be have way with Enlish language.

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Re: June 6, 1944. The Allies go All-In.

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