D-Day, 1941

Allied air defenses bombarded Hitler’s Sea Wall with over 10,000 tons of bombs late Monday night on June 5, 1944, preparing the way for ground forces to land in the following waking hours of the dawn.

Caen held some of the fiercest fighting along the 100-mile coastline while Allied naval support began diffusing underwater obstacles planted by the Germans, preparing the way for thousands of infantry transports and landing crafts to come aground on the low tide.

Some American destroyers boldly sailed into unswept mine-ridden waters to provide cover artillery against Nazi inland coastal batteries that were ravaging our ground troops.

Waves of enemy fire stymied American soldiers for hours until the shelling from 640 naval ships and at least 31,000 Allied air-men warded off German defenses long enough to offer a shining hope for advancement.

Future generations should know how 72,000 ordinary Americans changed the world forever by acting against all human instinct to charge that beach on D-day.

The weather was worrisome – the odds against us were outstanding. D-day stands as a timeless example of true American courage fighting to solidifying the will of the American people and securing the protection of the free world.