68th Anniversary of D-Day

[Tinman507]

Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon a great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers in arms on other fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of **** 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 **** triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, 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.

-- Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower

[7shot]

Another anniversary is again upon us, too all the servicemen and women who served during this campaign...thank you!

My father flew in B-24's from late 45 to wars end and was the greatest man I've ever known. He did not perticipate in the D-Day invasion, he was in the 365th in Pantanella, Italy, but I wish I could say "job well done" to him on every anniversary.

[Tinman507]

8-weBUzQleo

[muggsy]

Two of my uncle's were in the D-Day invasion and both survived the war.

[TheTman]

I just heard on the radio that approximately 12,500 brave allied soldiers lost their lives on this day in 1944, may their souls rest in peace.
Recent facts about General Omar Bradley have come to light and say he didn't do as good of job at Omaha Beach as he could have. Other beaches were bombarded for 4 hours by heavy naval guns before the invasion, while Omaha Beach was shelled with lighter naval guns for only an hour before the invasion, and he failed to coordinate with the bombers attacking the area, which is said to have contributed to the American casualties, but they did knock out the communication lines causing confusion among the German defenses. He also ordered the landing craft to be launched 20 miles from shore instead of 12 as most of the other ships were doing. This helped contribute to the men being sea sick and not in the best of shape by the time they hit the beach. American troops were weighed down with up to 68 pounds of equipment, causing many to drown while the British only packed 15 lbs of gear and fared much better.
General Bradley thought that the German troops would be mostly old men and young boys, and instead they faced the battle hardened 352nd Division fresh in from the Russian front. His lack of use of tanks in the assualt is also questioned.
General Bradley was for the most part a very good leader, but did make some questionable decisions in Europe. He had a chance to capture some 20,000-50,000 German troops in the Falaise Pocket, using a pincer movement, but General Bradley halted his advance from the south fearing that his American forces would clash with the Canadian forces closing in from the north, and let the Germans escape through the gap that was created, although they left much of their equipment behind. I just found out most of these things, and thought I'd share the information with you all. Some of this info I got from watching a video by Richard Morris at: http://www.dickmorris.com/d-day-mistakes-redeemed-by-courage-****-morris-tv-lunch-alert/ . Mr. Morris says he got his info from a Biography of Eisenhower, some other things I heard while listening to talk radio today, and some comes from internet sources.
Anyway, due to the courage of the men on the beaches, they accomplished their mission and secured the beach and knocked out the German artillery along the cliff tops. These men were true heroes. I can't begin to imagine what courage it took to overcome the chaos and fear and get the mission accomplished.