June 6 The Longest Day

Oh, I completely agree. I was just talking about enduring images.

 

I wouldn't say it was lost. Our entry saved Europe; particularly England. If we had waited much longer, the Nazis gain control of all of Europe, including England. When that happens we have no foothold to attack.

 

Many of the "D-Day movies" are wonderful and all try to capture the horror of the assault on the beaches that day. However, if you venture out onto Omaha Beach or Utah Beach itself and look up at what remains of the German fortifications and look back at nothing but water and look around at "nowhere to hide", you will get a much more visceral appreciation of the horror of that day.

A visit to Normandy is sobering and uplifting at the same time.

I also salute and weep for those who died - and for those who made it through - D- Day.

 

This guy is a badass:

 

These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war.

We're here to mark that day in history when the Allied armies joined in battle to reclaim this continent to liberty. For 4 long years, much of Europe had been under a terrible shadow. Free nations had fallen, Jews cried out in the camps, millions cried out for liberation. Europe was enslaved, and the world prayed for its rescue. Here in Normandy the rescue began. Here the Allies stood and fought against tyranny in a giant undertaking unparalleled in human history.

We stand on a lonely, windswept point on the northern shore of France. The air is soft, but 40 years ago at this moment, the air was dense with smoke and the cries of men, and the air was filled with the crack of rifle fire and the roar of cannon. At dawn, on the morning of the 6th of June, 1944, 225 Rangers jumped off the British landing craft and ran to the bottom of these cliffs. Their mission was one of the most difficult and daring of the invasion: to climb these sheer and desolate cliffs and take out the enemy guns. The Allies had been told that some of the mightiest of these guns were here and they would be trained on the beaches to stop the Allied advance.

The Rangers looked up and saw the enemy soldiers -- the edge of the cliffs shooting down at them with machineguns and throwing grenades. And the American Rangers began to climb. They shot rope ladders over the face of these cliffs and began to pull themselves up. When one Ranger fell, another would take his place. When one rope was cut, a Ranger would grab another and begin his climb again. They climbed, shot back, and held their footing. Soon, one by one, the Rangers pulled themselves over the top, and in seizing the firm land at the top of these cliffs, they began to seize back the continent of Europe. Two hundred and twenty-five came here. After 2 days of fighting, only 90 could still bear arms.

Behind me is a memorial that symbolizes the Ranger daggers that were thrust into the top of these cliffs. And before me are the men who put them there.

These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war.

http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/reagan-d-day.htm

 

Great story !

 

I think you're being a bit dramatic, but it's interesting to think about.

Let me play. Based on most history conversations on here, I assume some will be able to do a better job than I do.

The war would have lasted longer, but no way it lasts five more years. Operations in Italy could have been ramped up, helping the Allies get through that country before the very end of the war, as was the case. Hitler would have immediately shifted a bunch of his strength in France east to fight the Russians, but the Russians were in steamroller mode by that point, after surviving the Germans last big offensive push at Kursk in 1943 so while that may have slowed the Russians down, I doubt it stops them.

Allied bombing wouldn't have relented. That may not have ever won the war via surrender, but it would have resulted in the same scarcity, and it would have eaten up the Luftwaffe, as it did. The Germans would have fielded more jets, but the Allies would have gotten some into combat, as well, so that edge wouldn't have been as pronounced as it was in the history we saw.

Maybe success at Normandy keeps Berlin from getting a-bombed. The Germans weren't remotely close to their own bomb, so no worries there. I don't think any new "super weapons" were particularly close that would have changed the balance, and every month the war went on was more U.S. arms that were entering combat. British and U.S. tanks would have been on much more equal terms with the Germans in late 1945, too.

The Allies likely also try another landing at some point.

But none of that may have mattered much the way the Russians were going. Certainly they'd have moved slower, but it's hard to believe they'd have been stopped.

And, the threat of a German invasion of Britain had passed by late 1941, when the U.S. entered the war. The Germans were never very capable of invading Britain, and they certainly weren't capable of it after invading Russia. They'd have had to reequip the Luftwaffe in a way that changed its entire makeup, as what they did in 1940 didn't work. And they'd have had to build a fleet of troop transports.

 

Yeah, that's pretty much it.

Russia was going to take Berlin in 1945 no matter what --- unless Normandy failed and perhaps the U.S. A-bombed Germany into submission before the Soviets could get there.

 

I believe that the D-Day vs Pacific theater contrast lies in the European roots of our country. And I am in no way discounting what happened on Normandy or Europe; my uncle survived WWII (brought home a Luger) and was so tortured he was a late night alcoholic. I celebrate D-Day today with all my heart.

As for Japan not being as big a threat as Germany I say look at how big the Japanese Empire was before their defeat; they were spread from throughout China to the South Pacific and had nearly conquered Pearl Harbor; Japan was no joke folks.

 

For the Vets of WWII and any other armed conflict; I will always respect and be grateful for their efforts. They confronted life situations and made sacrifices so that others like myself would not have to. Thank you.

 

This. Ever since D-Day the civilians have forced the military to fight wars with one hand tied behind their back. Hell, they started doing it very soon after D-Day when they held Patton back when he could have been in Berlin much earlier.
U.S. Presidents, all of them since Eisenhower, seem to have forgotten one simple rule: Don't fight a war unless you plan on winning it.

 

Give Bush the elder credit. He won his war because he, unlike some of his predecessors and successors, set a clearly defined political goal for his war and stuck to it.