Posted on 06/06/2018 2:54:30 PM PDT by Rummyfan
What most Americans these days know about D-Day comes from the movies "Saving Private Ryan" (1998) or "Band of Brothers" (2001), and that's pretty good! It's infinitely better than not knowing anything at all about this pivotal Allied invasion of World War II.
However, to enhance your knowledge of this important battle whose anniversary is June 6, here are a few more interesting facts you may not have learned in school.
1. Teddy Roosevelt Jr. fought on D-Day.
You remember the original Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders charging up San Juan Hill in the Spanish American War (1898) right? He earned the Medal of Honor for his incredible bravery that day. Well, his son Ted Jr. was no less brave.
Teddy Jr fought in World War I at Soissons and was wounded in action. Later, in World War II, he was a Brigadier General and led troops in North Africa and Italy. For the D-Day invasion, the 56-year-old soldier (the oldest Allied soldier on D-Day, by the way) begged to lead the men out of his landing craft and be the first on shore. He was given that honor, and led his men onto Utah Beach. (While they were heading for shore he led his men in singing "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "Onward Christian Soldiers".)
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(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...
I was aware of all except #4 and #6.
Six being the most interesting, as a school teacher had classified information published in a newspaper. Certainly, a school teacher today would never think of such a thing, and no self respecting newspaper would even consider publishing it. /s/
IMO, the Brit teachers actions were beyond coincidence.
Today, Teddy Jr. would be court-martialed and busted to private for those songs he sang going ashore! /sarcasm
#4: The Allies fooled the Germans.
Yes, we fooled the Germans into thinking that the real objective was Calais, not Normandy. However, the most important part of the deception was not before D-Day, but after. For weeks after the landing, Allied radio traffic suggested the existence of more Allied divisions in England than actually existed, with the thought of convincing the Germans that they were slated for a second “real” landing at Calais.
Thus, the Germans kept a full set of top-line infantry divisions in Calais waiting for a landing that never came, while the Allies continued to pour divisions into the expanding Normandy beach head. The Normandy build up was a race between the Allies and Germans to see who could bring the most divisions to battle in the shortest time. Convincing the Germans that there was another invasion coming helped win that race.
"Lest we forget"
#7 If it was up to Churchill, the landings would never have happened at all and those troops and landing craft would have been used for landing in Greece or the Balkans.
Churchill was obsessed with protecting the Suez Canal.
D-DAY was all about white privilege. Whitey got to be the first off the boats and airplanes.
Back in the day, if you ever aspired to a higher office in government, you needed to have fought in a war, not just stationed Stateside during it. Now with a very large percentage of elected officials NEVER having spent time in uniform, things have changed. If you survived a hazing of marshmallows being thrown at you, or someone spiking your latte with cows milk, you are Presidential timbre.
Bedford, Virginia was home to just 3,400 people. They had one taxi driver, one funeral home, and one sheriff. It was like Andy Griffith's Mayberry. Thirty-five men from the town were in Company A of the 116th Regiment of the 29th Infantry Division. They were Virginia National Guard troops, they had never seen combat, and they wanted to be the first to hit the beach.
They got their wish. Out of those 35 boys from Bedford, 19 were killed on Omaha Beach. It is one story after another of heroism, tragedy, and sorrow. For them, this was not just a scene from a movie or a page on a book. This was real, and their families were never the same.
Wow. God Bless Them.
Our president’s , uncle John Trump was on loan to the British working on their radar system during WWII. He was not just a “very smart professor at MIT”. After the war he continued his work on medical radiation & x-rays.
Brits gave him an award but not certain what.
Within days we were pouring in 20,000 troops a day, with the required supplies. Mulberry, the artificial harbor, was indispensable.
Also, Hitler was asleep? Yeah, under the influence of large quantities of dope. Other historical sources say that his track marks/injection scars were so thick that one could actually hear the crackling noise as the needle went in.
You have to subscribe to their news letter to read more. Nope.
Those young men would be appalled at the pajama boys of today.
I sought out General Roosevelt’s grave at Colleville-sur-Mer when we were at the American cemetery there. I was quite impressed by how the French people there - including young French citizens -regarded the cemetery with great respect and even awe. Very touching experience being there and hearing our national anthem played. I’ll never forget it.
“I own each of the books referenced, but do not remember anything about the little Virginia town.”
https://www.dday.org/the-memorial/ See “Why Bedford?” and “The Bedford Boys”
D-Day National Memorial
Bedford, Virginia
I doubt the caption of the picture. Looks like the beachhead has been established and the follow on troops are landing in an orderly fashion.
Quick search later:
Looks like they landed starting about 10:50 in the morning.
The first wave a Juno went in at 7:35. So, yes, the beachhead was established, but there was plenty of fighting needed after they got off the beach.
And back to Teddy Roosevelt. His troops were landed at the wrong place, but he made the decision to attack from there, rather than asking the boats to come back in to move them to the proper location opposite the causeways off of Utah Beach. Because of his decision, the objectives were taken more quickly, and less loss of life, than probably would have happened if he had remained offshore and a junior officer was in charge on the scene.
Need to Watch The Longest Day! that movie showed all the stuff..
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