Next Thursday marks the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion by Allied forces on the Normandy beaches in France. On June 6, 1944, thousands of ships and thousands of soldiers, sailors and airmen attacked the Nazi Germany’s Atlantic Wall to start the final campaign in Europe during World War II.
On a trip to the landing beaches last month, our tour group found preparations are well underway to commemorate the largest amphibious landing in world history. While very few of those veterans who fought in that struggle will be able to make the trip, all are held in the highest esteem by the French.
Although nearly all of those surviving veterans are centenarians, their courageous exploits are still fresh in the minds of the families liberated during the Normandy campaign. As our tour guide noted, American flags are displayed throughout Normandy every day, and not just for the D-Day observances.
The focus of our visit was Omaha beach, one of five zones designated for landings by American, British, French and Canadian units. As we later learned at a nearby museum, Omaha beach was the principal American zone, and it also was the most heavily defended. The U.S. suffered more casualties at Omaha beach than the other four beaches combined.
A short distance from Omaha beach is the Pointe du Hoc cliff, where a U.S. Army Ranger battalion scaled the heights to disable six large cannons that overlooked the beaches. With the help of naval firepower offshore, Rangers completed the mission despite heavy casualties. When they were relieved three days later, the unit only had about 85 men capable of fighting from the 255 that started the attack.
To capture the enormous sacrifice of U.S. troops during the Normandy campaign, a visit to the American Cemetery and Memorial that overlooks Omaha beach is mandatory. A total of 9,387 gleaming white crosses and stars of David are in perfect alignment to mark the final resting places for our heroes.
But those grave sites are just more than half of the deaths that occurred in the Normandy campaign. Families of the more than 17,000 killed in action were given the choice of burial in the cemetery in France or returned home for burial. The Normandy cemetery is just one of several in Europe where American troops were laid to rest following World War I and World War II.
In gratitude, many French families have adopted individual grave sites to decorate during the year on Memorial Day, Veterans Day and D-Day. This tradition also is passed down to succeeding generations as a lasting tribute to these war heroes.
We learned about the history of the Normandy campaign at a newly opened visitors center at the cemetery. In addition to photos and displays, films from the battles were shown. Each year, some 2 million people visit the cemetery, which is the most visited cemetery of those maintained by the American Battle Monument Commission.
Statistics provided by the Department of Defense reported that 156,115 Allied troops stormed the beaches on D-Day. This number does not include Navy personnel aboard ships supporting the landing or the airborne assault by Allied paratroopers five hours before the invasion behind enemy lines.
Allied killed-in-action reached 4,414, including 2,501 Americans. More than 5,000 Allied troops were wounded, according to the Associated Press. Twelve soldiers and sailors, including nine posthumously, earned the Medal of Honor during the Battle of Normandy.
Our visit was timed to coincide with the daily wreath laying ceremony performed at the cemetery. I was honored to participate in the ceremony when the tour director asked me and another Vietnam veteran to lay the wreath. We proudly stood at attention and saluted when the Star Spangled Banner and Taps were performed at the end.
I’m able to speak for millions of veterans who hold our military service with pride and honor. And equally important, we still value the patriotic ideals that we swore allegiance to the U.S. Constitution.
In this era of political division, it would serve our nation well to remember the sacrifices and heroism of American servicemen and women who fought — and many who died — for liberty throughout the world.
Americans came not in conquest for land. We only ask for enough space to bury our war heroes.
— John D. Foster is a Carthage resident and regular contributor. Email: jandmfoster@yahoo.com.
