By June 6th, 1944 the United States had been participating in World War II for two years and seven months. The British, Canadians, and the rest of the Empire had been engaged for nearly five years. In Europe combat would last for just less than a year beyond what is known as D-Day. After the Germans surrendered it would rage on for an additional three months in the Pacific. Thankfully we have yet to fight another one like it.
Not that there hasn't been plenty of wars since. Americans have fought in Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq a couple of times. As these words are being typed American troops are still fighting in Afghanistan, even though the original reason we went there, Osama bin Laden, has been dead for over eight years. Those wars were and still are, at times, no less deadly than World War II. The incoming rounds, just as real and lethal as any fired in Normandy. Brave men and women who died in places like Hue, Vietnam and Ramadi, Iraq are no less dead than those killed in Sainte-Mere-Eglise.
However, the truth is, despite the more recent, seemingly unending roll call of conflicts, WWII was the last time the United States, as a nation, was all in, utterly committed to total war. In those days, unless you were a student at Annapolis, or West Point, being in college didn't mean shit to your local draft board. Questionable medical deferments were few and far between, no matter how rich dear old Dad was. Vast numbers of women who weren't in the armed forces spent their days making bombs, bullets, and airplanes. The public's use of fuel was strictly rationed, as were things like sugar. Civilians, on a mass scale, used at least part of their expendable income on War Bonds. The battles weren't some distant things you thought about occasionally. They were constantly in the minds and anxieties of each citizen seven days a week, 52 weeks a year.
The casualties came in at a horrific rate which, to those of us currently worrying about the antioxidant content of our smoothies, is incomprehensible. In April and May of 1944, during the lead up to the invasion of France, the allies lost 2,000 aircraft and 12,000 pilots and crew members. That number of souls equals the entire population of Elk City, Oklahoma.
On Tuesday, June 6, 1944, 5,333 ships and landing craft delivered 132,715 allied personnel onto five beaches in northern France. Over 75,000 of them were British and Canadian. 57,500 of them were Americans. Earlier, 20,000 airborne troops, had dropped out of planes in the middle of the night behind the beaches.
Sources vary over how many were killed in combat during the first 24 hours of the invasion. One says 1,465 Americans died, while 1,928 were declared missing and presumed dead. Another claims 2,499 were killed. The British, hyper sensitive about how the news of casualties would impact morale at home, were deliberately vague on their numbers, but estimates range from 2,500 to 3,000 killed and wounded. The Canadians on the other hand were precise, almost to the point of being questionable. They listed 335 killed and 611 wounded. The National D-Day Memorial, in Bedford, VA lists 4,414 soldiers from all three nations killed on that single Tuesday. Many of them, if not most, weren't old enough to legally buy a bottle of beer.
What we do know for certain is Normandy is now home to 22 separate war cemeteries which contain the remains of combatants from all sides killed on June 6th and in the weeks following. 9,386 Americans are interred there along with 17,769 British, 5,002 Canadians, and 650 Poles. There are nearly 78,000 German graves near them.
In addition to all the military carnage it is estimated between 15,000 and 20,000 French civilians lost their lives during the Normandy campaign mainly due to allied bombing and artillery. Yes, being liberated also comes with a cost.
The invasion of occupied France happened 75 years ago today. Those who survived it and the next 11 months before Germany surrendered are in their 90's now, a precious, frail, few. To paraphrase a line from a movie, soon all their memories will be lost, like tears in the rain.
We must never forget them, their acts of courage, or, what they fought against. If we do, it will be an unconscionable sin and all of us--each and every one--will not be worthy of their bravery and sacrifice.
sic vita est
6-6-19
Certainly a different time, a different mindset on the part of the people of that time. Far different than today, when we can't even agree on whether we are disagreeing or not. Back then, we had the leadership of Roosevelt and Churchill, even Stalin when the chips were on the line. What do we have today? That would make an excellent blog topic.
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