Free Republic

~ D-DAY, June 6, 1944 ~ NORMANDY INVASION May 1944 had been chosen at the conference in Washington in May 1943 as the time for the invasion. Difficulties in assembling landing craft forced a postponement until June, but June 5 was fixed as the unalterable date by Eisenhower on May 17. As the day approached and troops began to embark for the crossing, bad weather set in, threatening dangerous landing conditions. After tense debate, Eisenhower and his subordinates decided on a 24-hour delay, requiring the recall of some ships already at sea. Eventually, on the morning of June 5, Eisenhower,...

John Eisenhower, retired U.S. Army Brigadier General and son of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, talked about his father's role as Supreme Allied Commander Europe. He also spoke about President Eisenhower's relationships with American and British generals and how Eisenhower compromised with Allied nations to bring World War II in Europe to an end. Dwight Eisenhower's Son Talks About D-Day | 53:50 C-SPAN's American History TV | 56.1K subscribers | 3,691 views | June 6, 2026

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.Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle hardened. He will fight savagely.But this is...

Four years ago, our Nation and Empire stood alone against an overwhelming enemy, with our backs to the wall. Tested as never before in our history, in God’s providence we survived that test; the spirit of the people, resolute, dedicated, burned like a bright flame, lit surely from those unseen fires which nothing can quench.Now once more a supreme test has to be faced. This time, the challenge is not to fight to survive but to fight to win the final victory for the good cause. Once again what is demanded from us all is something more than courage and...

My fellow Americans: Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.Lead them straight and true; give strength...

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth traveled to the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France, for the second consecutive year, where he delivered remarks today honoring the approximately 160,000 Allied troops — 73,000 of them Americans — who landed at Normandy on June 6, 1944, to liberate Western Europe from Nazi control. The beginning of the Battle of Normandy, more commonly referred to as D-Day, would lead to more than 2 million Allied troops being on the ground in France within three months, followed by the ultimate downfall of Adolph Hitler and the Nazi regime just over eight months later. "Eighty-two...

This being the 82nd anniversary of D-Day, I thought I’d post a story of my experience with a D-Day veteran. Perhaps other Freepers have stories they’d like to share here as well.

On June 6, 1944, 150,000 Allied soldiers clambered aboard heaving landing craft and braved six-foot swells, waves of machine-gun fire, and more than 6 million mines to claim a stretch of sand at a place called Normandy. Their mission was to carve out an Allied foothold on the edge of Nazi-occupied Europe for the army of more than one million that would follow them in the summer of 1944. This army would burst forth from the beachhead, rolling across Europe into the heart of Germany, liberating millions, toppling a genocidal regime, and ending a nightmare along the way. But it...

Raise the 48 Star Flag and put on the Longest Day or Saving Private Ryan. Its time to remember one of the greatest military events in all of history and an invasion which will never be eclipsed. That day when so many brave and very young men walked into hell, they should never be forgotten.

The History Guy remembers the heroic service of Rescue Flotilla 1 of the United States Coast Guard during D-Day. It is history that deserves to be remembered. [1st vid in THG's D-Day Playlist] How Rescue Flotilla One saved more than 400 men on D-Day | 10:20 The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered | 1.64M subscribers | 177,873 views | June 2, 2018 THG D-Day search results.

PARIS, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Charles Norman Shay, a Native American veteran who was a 19-year-old U.S. Army medic when he landed off the Normandy coast on D-Day and helped save lives, died at age 101 on Wednesday. Shay died at his home near Caen in France’s Normandy region, his carer Marie-Pascale Legrand said.

Many of you will recognize the name, Jake Larson lied about his age and joined the National Guard at age 15, later he stormed the Easy Red Sector of Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944. Larson's Granddaughter signed him up for Tik Tok and helped him attract over 1 million followers with Story Time with Papa Jake, which allowed to become quite a well-known Tik Tok content creator. Here a few short videos of Jake Larson from the 75th Anniversary of D-Day, he also made it to the 80th and 81st anniversaries. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMruLqIy-Pg

PARIS (AP) — D-Day veteran ″Papa Jake″ Larson, who survived German gunfire on Normandy’s bluffs in 1944 and then garnered 1.2 million followers on TikTok late in life by sharing stories to commemorate World War II and his fallen comrades, has died at 102.An animated speaker who charmed strangers young and old with his quick smile and generous hugs, the self-described country boy from Minnesota was ‘’cracking jokes til the end,’' his granddaughter wrote in announcing his death. Tributes to him quickly filled his “Story Time with Papa Jake” TikTok account from across the United States, where he had been...

Click on link

Veterans gathered in Normandy on Friday to commemorate the 81st anniversary of the D-Day landings — a turning point in World War II that ultimately precipitated the downfall of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler’s regime. Roughly two dozen veterans who served in World War II traveled to the beaches of Normandy to honor the thousands that died on D-Day, as well as the tens of millions that died in the second World War. D-Day marked a significant turn in World War II as it set the stage for the defeat of Nazi Germany by effectively establishing a Western front. It essentially...

June 6, 1944—a date etched into the annals of history. Known simply as D-Day, it was the start of Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy, France, and the largest amphibious assault ever conducted. But beneath the surface of this widely remembered military operation lie lesser-known stories, unsung innovations, and strategic gambits that made this turning point of World War II both extraordinary and brutal. The Massive Deception that Made D-Day Possible One of the most overlooked elements of D-Day is the sophisticated web of deception known as Operation Bodyguard, a set of diversionary operations meant to mislead the German...

Imagine picking up every man in a medium-sized city, everything they’ll need to eat and drink and rest for a few days, any vehicles they might need, gasoline, of course, plus lots of guns and ammo, and then moving it all in a few short hours a distance of anywhere from 30 to 125 miles. But this is no road trip. You have to move all those people and all that stuff partly by air, but mostly across heavy seas in foul weather. Under enemy fire. I should also mention that if you messed up any of the big details...

As most of us know, today is the 81st anniversary of D-Day. Bing marks it on their homepage (good for them). Google has nothing. Anyway, if you have a D-Day story of a sort, feel free to post it here.

Full Title: President Ronald Reagan's Address at the Omaha Beach Memorial Cemetery Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings in Normandy, France

[Recordings at link. The 1 min D-Day audio includes the words of the announcer.]The Sound of the Liberty BellThe Bell as Ben Heard ItThanks to modern computer modeling, we may have a closer idea of exactly how the Bell sounded when Benjamin Franklin heard it. In 1999, graduate students from Pennsylvania State University were able to digitally create a structural model of the Liberty Bell. From this computer model, they were able to mathematically equate the vibration of the Bell and add sound. Knowing that the tone of the Bell was E-flat, they were able to come up with a...