The
planning and training took off in earnest. New weapons were designed, “Hobart’s
Funnies,” concrete floating docks, Mulberries” were built. Miles of continuous steel
transmissions lines were fabricated to carry fuel across the channel, tens of
thousands of feet of nylon were cranked out, food stocks and ammunition bulged
from warehouses. The island of England became the largest military training
base in the world. And all the while, secrecy was maintained while a phantom
army was built around George Patton.
During
a training exercise, German E-boats intercepted the force inflicting over 900
casualties. Luckily, they were not able to understand what they had stumbled
upon even though OKH, OKW and Rommel knew an invasion was imminent.
Tensions
mounted as D-day approached. Troops were stuck on ships for weeks waiting. The
8th Air Force and RAF continued to apply pressure from the air. They
destroyed communication centers, railyards and bridges. They targeted airfields
to reduce the effectiveness of the Luftwaffe. The navies continually swept the English
Channel, North, Irish and Celtic Seas, the Bay of Biscay and the North Atlantic
to make sure no German subs or surface ships dared venture out. But still there
was trepidation with the venture. A gale stirred up in the English Channel. Soldiers
became sea-sick. Paratroopers, glider pilots and their tugs, were called up
then stood own. The tension and anxiousness were palatable. When would they go?
Would they go? What was the hold up? The weight of the invasion and fate of
Europe rested on one man’s shoulders, Dwight David Eisenhower. He would go down
as one of the greatest generals to ever wear a uniform or the biggest military
fiasco in the annuls of commanders.
He
could wait no longer. A twenty-four break was in the forecast. He gave the
order to go and could do nothing but wait to see if made the right decision.
Airbases
across England erupted with a thunderous roar as planes of all shapes and sizes
warmed up then took to the skies. Hundreds of naval vessels, loaded with every
implement of war began the arduous journey across the English Channel hoping
the air forces had been successful in neutralizing enemy fortifications and
strongholds. Airborne troops huddled in their transports, as their planes flew
into the murky dark skies hoping the pilots knew where they were going and would
hit the correct landing, drop-off points. No one spoke as they were lost in
their own thoughts of mortality. Some prayed, some cried, some threw-up for want
of the unknown.
The
silence was broken by piercing lights and the sounds of shells exploding in the
air. Pilots took evasive action to avoid the flak. Twenty-millimeter shells ripped
through the thin-skinned planes, killing and wounding men. Planes exploded and
plummeted to the ground carrying their precious cargo. Some zones were hit,
many weren’t.
Battleships
pounded inland installations at Sword, Gold, Juno, Omaha and Utah. This gave the men, who were moving to the
shores, hope and then the ramps went down. The landings went according to plan
except, Bloody Omaha. The fortifications Eisenhower feared and Rommel
reinforced were still in full operation. Even direct hits from 1000lb bombs and
16” shells couldn’t knock them out. The first wave was almost decimated. General
Bradly almost gave the order to evacuate the beache but the lone heroism of a
few brave men was able to open up a draw that allowed our troops to get behind
the fixed positions and eliminate the defenders.
The
cost in men was high in those first heady days of the invasion. The world sat
on edge waiting to hear the invasion had been successful. If it was, the
Germans would now be caught in a three-way vice they couldn’t escape or hope to
defeat: Russia in the east, Americans/ British/Canadians/French in Italy and
now France. The die was cast but Germany wasn’t throwing in the towel, at least
not yet.
It
was a massive undertaking that united a world at war. Defeat was not an option.
The men and women who did the fighting and dying knew the risks they were
taking but also knew the consequences of failure. It wasn’t an option.
So
here we are on the 76th anniversary and what are we greeted with? The
desecration of the Memorials across our nation, that honor the men and women
who fought and died for the freedoms we all love and enjoy. What they did not
fight for was unrestrained anarchy and the destruction of a society they fought
to uphold. They fought and died so Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr were able
to peacefully assemble and march to expose social injustice and racism. They
did not march to instill violence and hatred for they knew it would only lead
to more violence, and the message they needed to get out would be ignored and
nothing would change.
To
the protestors today, during your peaceful gatherings, take a knee, call for a
moment of silence and remember those that died on the beaches, in the skies and
the dark cold seas, whose sacrifice allow you to let your voices be heard.
