D Day

• WWII veterans are dying off and very soon none will be left. D Day is one of the great accomplishments they leave behind.







• Just prior to the invasion, General Eisenhower transmitted a now-historic message to all members of the Allied Expeditionary Force. It read, in part, "You are about to embark upon the great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months."







• He kept another speech in his pocket in case the assault failed.







• 2400 soldiers were lost on Omaha beach alone on the first day, but by the end of same 34,000 were put ashore.







• There were fears the landing was going to fail and the CG of the operation actually radioed higher to that effect.







• The USS Texas helped turn things around when she positioned herself between shore and other craft and let the shore batteries have it with everything they had. She came in so close she was in danger of grounding and was firing her guns with nearly zero elevation.







• Savagery and heroics on both sides were present as in every battle, but in Normandy everything was highly compressed.







• One German battery stayed in business for a week by calling artillery on it's own position to keep the Americans away. American soldiers had intended to shoot the Germans when they came out, but were so moved by their wretched condition they took them prisoner.







• "The official record stated that "within 10 minutes of the ramps being lowered, [the leading] company had become inert, leaderless and almost incapable of action. Every officer and sergeant had been killed or wounded [...] It had become a struggle for survival and rescue."







• The world will never see anything like D Day again- no nation could really afford it in any measure.







• Let's hope.