D-Day

[Timocrat]

At this hour in 1944 the first of the airborne troops were setting off to invade the continent of Europe. Their sacrifice gave us the freedom we enjoy today.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them.

[Mears]

One of the men in my apartment building was there and he and his wife are still very active.

.

[Mycroft Holmes]

Size: You can easily vary the size of a given image by specifying it. You may specify size in terms of pixels, em (one character height-width), or percent of enclosing container. Given the wide variation in display platforms the best results are usually obtained by using percent to specify size.

<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a3/Bobdobbs.png" width="15%"> Yields:

If you are specifying the size of an image it is best to do it in only one dimension and let the computer figure out what the other dimension should be. This will result in images that have not been distorted. Another neat trick is to specify the image size as a percentage of the width of the container the image sits in. This results in a uniform presentation of the image across all possible platforms without having to compute the image size at all.

	Freedom ≠ Free Stuff☭
	I, for one, welcome our new Cybernetic Overlords /.
Mash Dobbshead® for HTML, bop Hello_Cthlhu for XAMPP

[Ciexyz]

We remember.

[Born to Conserve]

“My Dad was in the Pacific, dunno where he was based, flew nav,”

I assume “Miner” is not your real name....My dad’s crew’s Navigator’s last name was “Minor”. They were in the Pacific.

[b4its2late]

I meant today. The 6th.

[ABN 505]

Very nice colorization, that goes in my file. Those men really were the Greatest generation. I feel more kinship with them then I do with my own Generation. I know my Dad is rolling over right now about what has happened to this country. They did not sacrifice all they did just to have this Nation turn into exactly what they fought against. And all in my lifetime! I fear for our Country.

[NKP_Vet]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cIC97C17dc

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
hopes 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......I have full confidence in your courage and 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.” ~ Gen Dwight D. Eisenhower

[RobbyS]

I have read that IKE was telling the boys about the time he worked in a store in Kansas. He had a gift.

[NFHale]

Still have my father’s wings.

And his Glider Badge as well; he had that prior to the wings.

Went to a WWII weekend Reading Regional Airport this weekend. 101st guys did a jump, wearing 1944 gear, greasepaint, everything. Out of a C46 Commando named “Tinkerbell”.

[Joe 6-pack]

An Army buddy of mine was with the 101st on the 50th anniversary of D-Day, and got to participate in the commemorative jump into Normandy. He knows I remain green with envy to this very day.

[archy]

At Utah beach, the 70th tank battalion launched its DDs from about 1500 yards out. Four had been lost when their LCT hit a mine, but the remaining 28 DDs made it to the beach, about 10 minutes after the first infantry waves hit.



At Omaha, things went bad even before dawn. Two LCTs, carrying 8 deep wading M4s, hit mines and went down. The winds were blowing at 18 knots, and waves were 4�6 feet high. Because of tides and geography, landing conditions were far worse at Omaha than at the other beaches. Unfortunately the US Army thought they were in charge of the launch decision. Things turned into a disaster when someone decided to start launching the 741st DDs from 5500 yards out, and this was the birth of the myth of the US DDs on D-Day. Company C lost 16 of 16 DDs launched, almost all within 1000 yards from the launch. It seems a majority, if not most, of the tankers were recovered. Company B launched nearer the beach and two of its DDs made it all the way in. Three more DDs were landed directly on the beach by their LCT after the first tank sank, and the shrouds of the remaining tanks were damaged. A total of 5 DDs, 6 waders and 5 dozer tanks of the 741st made it ashore, 16 out of a total 56. The 743rd on Omaha made out better when it was decided to land all of its tanks, including DDs, directly on the beach from the LCTs. 32 DDs, 7 waders and 3 dozers made it ashore, 42 out of 56. Of the 112 tanks destined for the assault on Omaha Beach, 58 made it ashore, but only two DDs swam ashore. These 58 tanks were crucial in finally winning the day, providing much need support. By the end of the day, 42 were still in action, but only three from the 741st.

At 0630 on 6 June, 1944, after 18 months of training in secret, the 70th Tank Battalion rolled off of their landing crafts and onto Utah beach with the 4th Infantry Division. One of the first of the 70th Tank's soldiers to make it on the French shore was LT Franklin Anderson and his team of radiomen and engineers. Anderson was wounded by shrapnel after leaving the landing craft but made it to the seawall and directed the engineers as they blew holes in the wall for dozer tanks to enlarge.

Although A and B Companies were supposed to have been in the first wave, due to a mix up in the rendezvous area, the first tank on shore was commanded by PFC Owen Gavigan of C Company. C Company arrived with 12 of its 16 tanks and, under artillery and rocket fire, cleared obstacles with HE and bull dozer attachments and took key gun emplacements under fire, allowing follow-on ships filled with troops and supplies to make it to the beach. A Company was not so lucky. Before the tankers could disembark, one of the LCTs hit a mine and was blown in two. Nineteen tankers of the twenty on board died. As the rest of A Company's tanks hit the beach, they took up firing positions where they could support the infantry that were landing behind them. Two more tankers died during this operation, but the infantry landed safely.

70th Tank battalion engineers blew the seawall in front of B Company as their tanks hit the beach, but they met little resistance other than dismounted Germans exiting a bombed-out pillbox. All 16 of their tanks landed safely and moved through the breach made by the engineers and secured the causeway leading off the beach.

D Company, equipped with light tanks, was assigned the mission of linking up with the 101st Airborne Division which had landed behind the enemy defenses during the night. D Company found the infantry broken up into small groups under pressure from pockets of German resistance. By the end of the day, D Company had found large elements of the 101st and consolidated for the next morning's attack.

By nightfall, all the companies of the 70th Tank Battalion had reached their objectives and had consolidated the Utah beachhead.

The battalion fought its way north toward Cherbourg, at the head of the Cotentin Peninsula. C Company broke through to the 82nd Airborne at Ste. Mere Eglise on 8 June 1944, and the battalion continued north, cleaning up pockets of resistance along the road north. The tankers fought continuously for days on end, doggedly clearing the last German resistance. The town of Azeville fell on 11 June. Montebourg followed on 19 June. Cherbourg itself was not taken until 26 June, three weeks of exhaustive combat after the D-Day invasion.

The 70th Tank's losses during D-Day were the largest for any single day in the war. During the "Longest Day", they had lost 16 tanks, with 22 men killed and 8 wounded. By the time the Eighth Infantry Regiment had cleared the Cotentin Peninsula, the number of lost tanks had grown to 32, with 29 men KIA, 31 MIA and 48 WIA. The 70th Armor Battalion earned another Invasion Arrowhead and a Presidential Unit Citation for its critical role in the invasion of Normandy.

I don't reckon I have to tell anyone what outfit I was in. But it's the oldest and most decorated independent tank battalion in the United States Army.

[Fightin Whitey]

When men were men and America was the Shining City for all the world.

May God bless you and all your like.

[dfwgator]

Bump!