D-Day; June 6, 1944
The folks at the NRA & Brownells Life of Duty sent us this edited video produced by the Army in 1969 and mostly archival footage of the actual battle on the beaches of Normandy, France.
June 6, 2013 marks the 69th anniversary of “Operation Overlord” – the D-Day invasion where more than 160,000 allied troops landed on a 50-mile stretch of French Coastline to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France in 1944. The invasion led to the deaths of more than 9,000 allied forces, but the victory resulted in a significant turning point for Europe’s history. Today, we would like to honor the allied forces that participated in the invasion by sharing a film created by the U.S. Army in 1969. In this film, the drama and battle action of the landing at Normandy is portrayed along with the fierce combat that took place to overcome “Fortress Europe” (compliments of the National Archives).
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The Center for Military History tells the complete story of the battle.
Category: Historical
As long as I live, I will be in awe of such great soldiers!
That truncated version barely communicates the effect of the full-length version, but it’s better than nothing.
When I look at that, I still wonder how in the hell anyone survived on the Allied side.
It makes one humble to be in the same military branches as those who did what had to be done, damn the cost.
[…] http://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=36045 has an excellent video on D-Day from the NRA – Brownell’s Life of Duty series. I had trouble embedding it here on WordPress; the one below is one of many on YouTube, a few are in color. […]
My grandfathers sacrifices on Omaha beach that day allowed me to hold my newborn son today in peace and freedom.
I miss you Pop, thank you! I wish you could meet Brendan.
Thanks for posting this. When people say “There is no God.” I point to moments like this or the Battle of Midway and “You do not see the hand of Divine Providence in this?” God truly blessed the world on those days when defeat could just as easily, perhaps even more easily have come instead of victory. To Him we give humble thanks. Also to those who made the journey into battle for us. I pray we may be worthy of it all.
I’ve found some color footage of the Normandy campaign including D-Day put to a tune I think you’ll all recognize. IIRC this footage was shot by Hollywood director George Stevens who was working in the US Army at the time. again, to those who were there including my father, I cannot thank you enough.
Well said, T-bird Henry.
[…] And the milblog This Ain’t Hell has posts on the Rangers’ Raid on Point du Huc and on the actual invasion. […]
1st Cav CG’s take on June 6:
http://www.forthoodsentinel.com/story.php?id=11457