D-day +72 years

    Today marks the 72nd anniversary of the largest naval invasion of all time, D-day. Myself being a WW2 history buff and hearing stories from family and veterans that were there know what happened on that day but lately history is being forgotten, people don't remember the days in which men died to protect freedom and to fight oppression as they should. A friend of mine even told me that today Google has neglected to feature a new home banner in honor of this event, but yet they will do so for earth day. So i have decided in dedication to the men on both sides, allied and axis, i will write this journal describing the events that transpired on June 6 1944.


    After the Germans defeat at Stalingrad the war had changed on the Eastern front, Russia was now in a place to attack the weakened German lines and did so to push back against the advance. meanwhile in western Europe call for a new front to be opened along the west was rising, people new as well as the military staff did in England that the German military was being drained in their conflict with the USSR and the best way to help end this war was to invade. planes for such invasions had already passed the desks of Great men such as Winston Churchill however these prior plans were only theory, and only one attempt was ever undertaken to probe, and hopefully break, the Atlantic wall. this operation is know as The Dieppe Raid, the operation consisted predominantly of Canadian soldiers and after only 5 hours a retreat was called. This failed raid laid the seeds for what would become the largest naval invasion ever in the history of warfare. Operation Neptune (the operation to land on the beaches) was in full preparation by 1943 and the allied army needed a way to deceive the Germans into thinking they were attacking a different part of the french coast, to most obvious destination being the Calais due its close proximity to England. Operation Bodyguard was undertaken to feed the Germans false Intel and to mask the actual intent of the allied army. Fake airstrips were made along with mock up planes and blowup tanks, soldiers were given face patches to were in England to make it look like there were more divisions of men than there actually were, on the day of the invasion a small group of ships sallied in circles along the English channel near the Calais to make it look on radar as if if a large invasion force was coming. this effective use of counter intelligence and secrecy is one of the reasons Operation Neptune was a success.

    Due to weather issues the original day of June 5th was changed to June 6th for the Operation to commence. On the night of June 5th as the ships sailed to France to commence the invasion, British and American airborne troops jumped into France with the cover of night to aid as their diversion. during the early mourning of June 6th over 200 ships pounded the beaches of Normandy to weaken the German lines, and at 6:30 am the first landing craft hit the beaches code named Gold, Sword, Utah, Omaha, and Juno. beaches Gold and Sword were given to the British, Utah and Omaha to the Americans, and arguable the most well fortified beach Juno was given to the Canadians. as landing craft hit the shores they had already been rained on by machine gun fire, as the ramps dropped the battle know as D-day began...and in an instant hundreds of brave men fell before leaving the landing craft. bodies lined the shores and a once pleasant beach was covered in blood and bodies as the battle raged on. men looked for cover but many couldn't find it as machine guns rained down on them, as many men as possible would be waiting behind a small hill until the machine guns stopped to reload. by the end of this battle over 5,000 men, on both sides, who had left home to fight....would never return to their family's.

    This day marks one of the biggest turning points in the war, and personally i don't think the men who fought are getting the respect they deserve. So i humbly ask all who read this to stop today and remember those who fought, and those who died.