Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!

You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have

striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The

hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.

In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on

other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war

machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of

Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well

equipped and battle hardened. He will fight savagely.

But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of

1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats,

in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their

strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home

Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions

of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men.

The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to

Victory!

I have full confidence in your courage and devotion to duty and skill in

battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory!

Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great

and noble undertaking.

SIGNED: Dwight D. Eisenhower

I'll be honest, I completely forgot today...thanks for reminding me stoleit. What a great time when we still realized nothing short of a total ass kicking would result in victory and nobody cared about the enemy's feelings or what will the media say or why isn't that guy wearing a reflective belt. Here's to every one of those guys who raged up that beach...American heroes, every single one.

Those guys had balls of iron.

Those guys had balls of iron.

Great pictures of great men.

A great US Army site remembering this historic day!

D-Day, June 6th, 1944

Cheers! M2

One of the most iconic images of D-Day, it almost never made it to print. Amazing enough that the film made it from the beach to the darkroom only to have much of the shots on the roll ruined in processing. The processing error actually accounts for the dreamlike quality of the image along with the motion blur. Robert Capa, the photographer, would make it off the beach that day too. He stepped on a mine in Vietnam May 25, 1954.

When I sit on the ramp after engine start and wait an hour for a micap part, I think of the logistical challenges those guys faced and just shudder in awe.

Between 800 and 1100 of these men die each day, many in nursing homes far from the loving embraces of those that love and remember them.

We owe our way of life, everything we have, to the sacrifices of such heroes. Gentlemen, a toast to you......

The Greatest Generation.

Might be a cliche, but it's still true.

George Kopack - US Army medic landed on the beach 67 years ago today - on the way to Germany and VE Day. He was thirty years old that day and if the Army called him back now, I'll bet he'd be packed by dinnertime. Thank you to Uncle George and to all those Americans and Allies to took the fight onto the continent all those years ago.

Between 800 and 1100 of these men die each day, many in nursing homes far from the loving embraces of those that love and remember them.

We owe our way of life, everything we have, to the sacrifices of such heroes. Gentlemen, a toast to you......

2

A proud day for all of those fighting the Germans.

I know it's a day late, but a great read about the First Wave at Omaha Beach