By Curt Hendel
Veteran Writer
Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!
You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hope 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 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 will-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 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 beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.
Delivered to the American troops by General Dwight D Eisenhower on June 6, 1944 before the D-Day invasion
In early 1944, 75 years ago, things were not looking great on the European war front. We had scored early gains in North Africa and had certainly helped to keep Great Britain in the fight, but the Nazis had built a fortress in continental Europe. We needed a win, and we needed it badly.
The planning and effort to set up this win had been extensive, leading up to June of that year. Whole units had been constructed of inflatable tanks and trucks, set to help divert enemy attention from the true plans.
The tides were one factor that helped to set the date for June 5th, 1944. This would be D-Day. But come June 5th heavy skies and terrible weather forced a 24 hour stand down. Frustration and worry mounted.
June 6th was the day, period. If not that day, then there was a pretty good chance that a month delay would be necessary, and that would give German spies the opportunity to discover the real plans and that would certainly doom any effort to retake Europe.
The weather cleared and the mission was a go. But before the ships could bring the men across the channel the first wave had to be launched. During the night over 23,000 airborne troops would parachute and ride gliders into France. German anti-aircraft guns wreaked havoc on the aircraft and resulted in missed landing zones for most of the troopers. Even as chaos reigned the resiliency of the soldiers would win the day as they assembled into units and scored victories over their objectives.
Early morning brought the naval armada across the channel to the beaches of Normandy, not the beaches further north the Germans had planned for. 10,440 ships including over 3,500 troop carriers brought 12,500 vehicles and 1,550 tanks with over 153,000 invasion troops to five beaches and a 50-mile stretch of the Normandy Coast. They had 11,000 aircraft supporting them overhead.
Our two divisions landed that morning, on beaches named Utah and Omaha, two of the most heavily defended beaches of the five. Our troops, and the forces of Britain and Canada would pay a heavy toll that day. Over 14,000 casualties and more than 4,000 dead littered the beaches. Those that did not drown from all of the gear they were carrying as they waded ashore, faced withering machine gun fire from concrete bunkers and other fortifications the Germans had prepared for this event.
By the end of that first day though, it was apparent that our forces were returning to Europe for good. By the 11th of June all of the beaches were secured and we had landed over 326,000 men, 50,000 vehicles and over 100,000 tons of supplies.
In the end, D-Day was the victory that the world needed during a very dark time in history. Up until then the Nazis had only suffered minor losses in the West and, even with the loss of Italy, had not really been threatened except from the air.
June 6th, 1944, the combined forces of the United States, Britain, and Canada put the first real nail in the coffin of the Reich that was meant to last 10,000 years. We had a few local boys in that first wave, and their bravery on that day is certainly worth remembering!
CURT HENDEL -D DAY
JUNE 5
