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Never Forget June 6, 1944.......

gamecockfan04

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Aug 13, 2003
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Never forget the sacrifices made for our Freedom!!!

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My dad was an executive officer on a minesweeper in the Pacific. He heard armed forces radio broadcast about the D-Day invasion. They said 7,000 Allied ships were involved including 1,000 or more capital ships. He thought that they must have taken every large ship out of the Pacific to help to have those numbers. About that time his ship pulled into Ulithi Atoll and Admiral Halsey's fleet was there. They steamed for hours past battleships, aircraft carriers, heavy cruisers, etc seemingly endless. That was the moment in time he realized that the good guys were going to win the war.
 
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6,000 dead on D-Day IIRC.


Two years before, during the June 3 to June 7th Battle of Midway, Japan lost four carriers, a cruiser, and 292 aircraft, and suffered 2,500 casualties. The U.S. lost the Yorktown, the destroyer USS Hammann, 145 aircraft, and suffered 307 casualties.
 
Saved humanity.

"D-Day" is a bit of a misnomer. D-Day refers to the date that an invasion begins. What we're really commemorating on June 6 is the D-Day for Operation Overlord.

My father was out in the Pacific and landed on Iwo Jima D-Day +3, i.e., on the third day of the Iwo Jima invasion.

I heard through a third party that one night while on the island, his area was under siege by a Japanese night attack which the Marines beat back and likely saved his life.

When he got back to Beaufort in late 1945, he was offered the opportunity to stay on in the Army Air Corps reserve, which he declined, stating that he preferred the ranking of a 6-star General - a civilian.
 
The greatest accomplishment in American military history.
Also it might be one of the best deceptions in war. The Allied forces had the Germans thinking the invasion landing would happen at Calais. As a result of this deception, a few mores lives likely survived Operation Overload all the way though VE day.

When I hear the National anthem, June 1944 is one of the things that goes through my mind.
 
Also it might be one of the best deceptions in war. The Allied forces had the Germans thinking the invasion landing would happen at Calais. As a result of this deception, a few mores lives likely survived Operation Overload all the way though VE day.

When I hear the National anthem, June 1944 is one of the things that goes through my mind.

All great points. The inflatable army, the “intelligence” the Germans received, etc...from Calais was very crucial to the success at Normandy. As a history major myself, someone taught you well.
 
All great points. The inflatable army, the “intelligence” the Germans received, etc...from Calais was very crucial to the success at Normandy. As a history major myself, someone taught you well.

Plus they put General Patton in charge of the "inflatable" army and the Germans were convinced Patton was our best general and would lead the invasion. Instead it was Eisenhower.
 
Plus they put General Patton in charge of the "inflatable" army and the Germans were convinced Patton was our best general and would lead the invasion. Instead it was Eisenhower.

Never really looked into this but I imagine Patton had to be some kind of pissed off about this “mission.”

We think you’re a great leader now we need you to lead a fake army until further notice. I can only imagine how well that had to go over.
 
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Never really looked into this but I imagine Patton had to be some kind of pissed off about this “mission.”

We think you’re a great leader now we need you to lead a fake army until further notice. I can only imagine how well that had to go over.

If you watch the movie Patton, the general managed to get himself in hot water several times. Once was when he slapped a young soldier who had what we would now call PTSD. Patton was trying to help snap the boy out of it, but he got benched for that. Another time Patton was giving a short speech and tried to be diplomatic thanking all our allies, but "forgot" to mention Russia and Stalin. Stalin complained and they had to bench Patton a little while again. At the time of D-Day, he was benched "like a kid's timeout" for one of those slip-ups, I think the soldier slapping one. So Patton knew he was in the dog house and was just waiting for it all to blow over. You can imagine the Nazis wouldn't believe that we would bench our best general for slapping some private. They find that laughable, the top general can shoot a private if he wants in their army. So Patton was likely trying to do anything he could, being extra cooperative, to get Eisenhower to like him and give him back his command. Which of course eventually happened.
 
Another time Patton was giving a short speech and tried to be diplomatic thanking all our allies, but "forgot" to mention Russia and Stalin.
I thought General Patton said in the speech was that the Anglo-Saxon would have to rebuild Europe after the war. The Roosevelt administration , Congress and the Department Of War thought General Patton statement contradicted one of the reasons why United States was involved in the European theater. .
 
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I thought General Patton said in the speech was that the Anglo-Saxon would have to rebuild Europe after the war. The Roosevelt administration , Congress and the Department Of War thought General Patton statement contradicted one of the reasons why United States was involved in the European theater. .

Maybe that too, but it was the Russians complaining that benched him at least once. Here is the clip from the movie Patton showing it.

 
If you look closely during the Ken Burns WWII doc there's a brief footage of Patton peeing in the Rhine River.
 
General Eisenhower was the Allied forces commander but I think General Bradley lead the invasion of France.
You are correct. Gen. Bradley received that assignment. I just finished reading the book Omar Bradley. He was very low key and did not seek glory and credit.If he got recognition, he passed it on to his troops. Gen. Montgomery, English Commander, was a pompous ass who took credit for everything every chance he got. He treated Americans like they were just in his way. Eisenhower was too quick to give in to Montgomery. Many of the tatics Monty insisted on went bad and had Bradley's been followed things would have gone much faster.
 
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You are correct. Gen. Bradley received that assignment. I just finished reading the book Omar Bradley. He was very low key and did not seek glory and credit.If he got recognition, he passed it on to his troops. Gen. Montgomery, English Commander, was a pompous ass who took credit for everything every chance he got. He treated Americans like they were just in his way. Eisenhower was too quick to give in to Montgomery. Many of the tatics Monty insisted on went bad and had Bradley's been followed things would have gone much faster.
I think General Bradley was very popular with the soldiers. The only thing I knew about Monty is, that he had a lot of success in Northern Africa against General Rommel and Monty was blamed for the failure with Operation Market Garden.
 
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