D-Day

[Piperonca]

On 6 June 1944 the sky over Normandy was filled with Allied aircraft, more than 10,000 of them. It was arguably the largest air armada the world will ever see.

https://www.maxwell.af.mil/News/Display/Article/1859844/key-to-success-allied-airpower-at-normandy/



“The aircraft flew over us continuously, passing above us like a conveyor belt…My front positions resembled a scene from the moon, and at least 70% of my troops were out of action—dead, buried, or stunned. All of my forward tanks were disabled and the roads were practically impassable.”
—Generalleutnant Fritz Bayerlein, Panzer Lehr Division commander, after the air attacks.

https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/v...lay/Article/1789416/operation-overlord-d-day/

 

[Matthew]

We've all seen this photo. Some of the 1st Infantry landing at Utah Beach, Easy Red sector, around 7:40am.

There's an official caption, according to the USCG:

“Into the Jaws of Death: Down the ramp of a Coast Guard landing barge Yankee soldiers storm toward the beach-sweeping fire of Nazi defenders in the D-Day invasion of the French coast. Troops ahead may be seen lying flat under the deadly machinegun resistance of the Germans. Soon the Nazis were driven back under the overwhelming invasion forces thrown in from Coast Guard and Navy amphibious craft.”

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Chief Photographers Mate Robert F. Sargent




Robert Capa got photos from that same section of beach. Only eleven survived, they are called "The Magnificent Eleven".

 

[Skyrys62]

This article is on a lot of media today.
Thought is was both sad, but some of it kind of cool also.

WWII Vet, 102, dies on way to D-Day event

Robert "Al" Persichitti, celebrated for his service in the Pacific theater, died in a German hospital after falling ill on a ship crossing the North Sea.

www.newsweek.com

 

[Piperonca]

Free WSJ article on Eisenhower's return to Normandy, worth a read (if paywall dialog shows up, just close it):

https://www.wsj.com/articles/eisenh...pqlu6fnl8um&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

It references the historic CBS 20th Anniversary film with General Eisenhower and Walter Cronkite linked below. If in hurry, watch about the first 15 minutes and the last 5. You won't regret it: