15 August in U.S. military history: Operation DRAGOON

Unto the Breach ^ | 15 Aug 2019 | Chris Carter

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1934: The Marines depart Haiti, ending the United States' 19-year occupation of the Caribbean island.

1942: U.S. Navy destroyers finally manage to deliver the first load of supplies to Marines on Guadalcanal, who have been coping with limited rations and ammunition since landing nearly ten days ago.

Also on this day, Maj. Gen. Matthew Ridgway's 82d "All-American" Infantry Division is redesignated as the 82d Airborne Division, becoming the first airborne division in American military history. The division's first combat jumps will take place in Sicily and Italy the following year.

1943: 35,000 American and Canadian troops conduct an amphibious landing on the beaches of Kiska, Alaska - only to discover that the Japanese had abandoned the island weeks ago.

In the Solomon Islands, 6,500 soldiers of the 25th Infantry Division storm ashore on Vella Lavella. The islands will be captured in just under a month.

1944: (featured image) Well over 100,000 American and French troops land on the French Riviera, easily driving the German defenders back and capturing several strategic ports. The soldiers move so quickly across France that the supply trains can't keep up, and most of Southern France is liberated in four weeks.

On Cape Cavalaire's "Red Beach," Sgt. James P. Connor charges through a defense network of mines, mortars, 20-mm flak guns, machineguns, and snipers. When the German defenders take out both his platoon leader and platoon sergeant, Connor takes command, despite being wounded in the landing. He personally eliminates two enemy snipers before being hit again, then pushes his men forward through "almost impregnable mortar concentrations."

Connor and his platoon drive forward to their objective: a group of buildings overlooking the beach that are home to several snipers and machinegun nests. Wounded a third time, Connor is unable to continue, but

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This was the 4th of my father’s amphibious invasion as an officer in the 45th (Thunderbird) ID in WW2 [Sicily, Salerno & Anzio]. It was the counterpoint and backup to the Normandy Invasion of 06 June 1944. If that campaign had been thrown back or stalemated, this attack would have been a good second effort. As it was, it landed against weakened resistance and had very good results.

FYI: The American Military Cemetery at Draguignan, the Rhone American Cemetery and Memorial, is one of the smallest but loveliest of the European Battlefield Cemeteries. Several of my dad’s comrades are buried there and he visited them several times before he passed on himself.

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Adler Tag 1940 Battle of Britain.