69 years ago today, the Allies invaded the beaches of Normandy opening the long-awaited “Second Front” against Adolf Hitler’s Germany. At the time it was the largest amphibious invasion to ever take place.
Today, we give thanks to the many veterans that sacrificed their lives in order for democracy to prevail.
USNews reports: “A few moments after 1 a.m. on June 6, the boots of American and British paratroopers thudded upon the soil of France.”
So begins U.S. News’s detailed description of one of the largest invasions by land, sea and air in the history of the world.
In this day and age, detailed information flies around the world within minutes of news breaking. But 69 years ago, things were a little different. It took several weeks for U.S. News & World Report (known at the time as The United States News) to get a detailed description of what happened on five beaches in Northwest France on Tuesday, June 6, 1944.
In an article that ran 24 days after the invasion, U.S. News paints a picture reminiscent of the opening scenes of Steven Spielberg’s 1998 film “Saving Private Ryan,” with troops descending “in misty darkness on the narrowest part of Normandy, where the shore swings north” and a “death trap” of machine guns and cannons encountered by the American invaders.
“On this beach, losses were high. Even men who got through that fire were able to advance only 100 yards inland in several hours of fighting.”
The events of that day have been retold in countless books and movies over the past seven decades, but one item touched upon in U.S. News’s story is not often found in historical accounts of that time period: robots. In 1944, U.S. News reported that there was fear of a “dangerous robot plane attack” by the Germans. Unmanned “warbots” do date back as far as World War I, but they rarely make their way into the movies.
U.S. News’s account ends on an optimistic note, stating that Germany’s defeat would possibly come within months. Sure enough, less than a year later (May of 1945), the Germans unconditionally surrendered, ending the war in Europe. War did rage on in the Pacific, however, for several more months.
http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1
Read entire article including Close-Up of Invasion: How the Job Was Done: http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/press-past/2013/06/06/69-years-ago-today-the-allies-launched-massive-normandy-invasion-on-d-day
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