June 6, 1944: Remembering the Invasion of Normandy

When you look out over Omaha Beach today, it is nearly impossible to envision the chaos and confusion that existed on Normandy's beaches on June 6, 1944. Hitler knew there would be an invasion, but Allied plans remained secret. When General Eisenhower gave the "go" signal on June 5, 1944 for the invasion of Normandy, France, 18,000 allied paratroopers were on the ground by dawn. The land invasion began at 6:30 am, and Gold, Juno and Sword beaches--lightly defended--fell rapidly into the hands of the British and Canadians. At Utah beach, control was quickly taken by the Americans. 2,000 American troops were lost at Omaha Beach--pictured above--in a terrible battle. By the end of the day, 155,000 Allied troops were in Normandy, and the first of the battles to break the Nazi War Machine in the deadliest war in history had been a success.

Today, over a half century later, anti-semitism is again on the march. The defenders of the Gaza flotilla will be happy to tell you that there is no evidence that a wide scale holocaust took place in Germany, and their companions sponsor "freedom of expression" contests with "humorous" cartoon contests starring the Nazi Fuhrer. General Eisenhower foresaw this day and ordered photographic documentation of the horrors of the Nazi death machine and the concentration camps. Those same people who support the Gaza flotillas will tell you all those photos are faked. There are even more non-official pictures of the camps than official ones. I imagine there are those who believe those were faked, too.

There still are plenty of Americans who remember World War II. If you have any question about the rightness of America's cause or the price that America paid for right to prevail, seek out an older person who remembers World War II today, and have them tell you their story. Then, make the resolution to pass that story on to a younger generation yet to be born so they can understand America's greatness.

UPDATE: Blogger Thunder Pig has embedded a one hour radio program from June 6, 1944 covering the invasion on his blog. The CBS News report is noteworthy as it is one of the earliest accounts of the invasion, recorded about 2 hours after the invasion was reported by German sources and before any US (or Japanese) announcement was made.