Remembering D-Day, June 6, 1944

[pablocruze]

General Eisenhower gives the order of the day "Full victory - Nothing else" to paratroopers in England just before they board airplanes in the first D-Day assault.

"You will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped, and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely.

But this is the year 1944. Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41.

The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeat in open battle man to man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground.

Our home fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men.

The tide has turned.

The free men of the world are marching together to victory. I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle.

We will accept nothing less than full victory.

Good luck, and let us all beseech the blessings of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking."




American soldiers wading through water into Nazi machine-gun fire on the coast of France.





American troops invading Normandy.





At Utah Beach, members of an American landing party help others whose landing craft was sunk by the Germans off the coast of France. The survivors reached Utah Beach, near Cherbourg, by using a life raft.

[pablocruze]

Crossed rifles in the sand placed as a tribute to this fallen soldier.




Medics help an injured American soldier.




American assault troops of the 16th Infantry Regiment, injured while storming Omaha Beach, wait by the Chalk Cliffs for evacuation to a field hospital for further medical treatment. Collville-sur-Mer, Normandy.




My dad and uncles were there ...



I am posting this thread in honor of them and all the brave men and women who fought in WWII.

May we never forget.

[pablocruze]

"People of Western Europe: A landing was made this morning on the coast of France by troops of the Allied Expeditionary Force. This landing is part of the concerted United Nations' plan for the liberation of Europe, made in conjunction with our great Russian allies ... I call upon all who love freedom to stand with us. Keep your faith staunch. Our arms are resolute. Together we shall achieve victory."
- broadcast by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, June 6, 1944.

"What a plan! This vast operation is undoubtedly the most complicated and difficult that has ever taken place."
- British Prime Minister Winston Churchill addressing House of Commons, June 6, 1944.

"We shot at everything that moved. The beach was soon covered with the bodies of American soldiers."
- German soldier Franz Gockel, writing to his family on June 10, 1944, about the landings on Omaha Beach four days earlier.

"There was another guy beside me and we were the first two off that boat. I went immediately into the water. It was shallow enough that I was able to get up. There was nothing. No bodies - because we were the bodies."
- Michael Accordino, who landed in the first wave on Omaha with Company A of U.S. Army's 299th Engineer Combat Battalion.

"I climbed to the top of a pear tree and said to my parents, 'Look, the cathedral is starting to burn!"'
- Jacques Guillemine, recalling the Allied bombing of Lisieux, Normandy, on June 6-7, 1944.

"The skin tore off, like an overripe peach."
- Georges Pennec, who recovered rotting bodies from Lisieux's ruins.

"The joy of liberation was extraordinary."
- Lucy David-Pellerin, aged 17 when Allied troops reached Lisieux in late August 1944.

"I often hear the phrase, 'When the Americans liberated us,' in conversation. No. The Americans were with the British, the Canadians, during the landings and it was, after all, Britain that suffered the crux of the struggle for several years."
- Louis Mexandeau, a former war veterans minister on how some overlook the contribution made by other Allied nations.

"Normandy is marked by the landings. It is inscribed in people's hearts, in memories, in stone, in rebuilding, in memorial plaques, in street names, everywhere."
- the Rev. Rene-Denis Lemaigre, priest of Lisieux.

[Alex655321]

Great Thread Pablo, well thought out

[Collection King 13]

Thanks Pab!

[endsongjen]

[CocoPUFF]

Both my Grandfathers were WWII vets..Thanks Pablo!

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