‘Memories keep going forever’
The Herald “Extra” declared on June 6, 1944, that the “greatest overseas military operation in the history” of the world had been unleashed in northern France. That paper cost 3 cents.
A small U.S. carrier was lost in the Pacific, “underground” agents in Europe were told to report to their leaders “with speed,” and Nazi propagandists announced a D-Day playlist for the invading troops.
The joke would be on them, history tells.
“All the GIs were running like crazy so they wouldn’t get killed. That was a sad scene,” Richard Egan, an Army reconnaissance driver with the 296th Engineers, said in 2019 of that morning on Omaha Beach.
“These memories keep going on and on forever,” he told this reporter. He did urge all never to forget this day.
“The eyes of the world are upon you,” Dwight D. Eisenhower’s “Order of the Day” states, according to the National Archives, adding: “The free men of the world are marching together to Victory!”
Nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed in Normandy today 79 years ago with 50,000 German soldiers waiting for them.
“Operation Overlord,” as the D-Day assault was code-named, turned the tide of the war in Europe.
The assault on five beaches — Omaha, Utah, Gold, Sword, and Juno — commenced at dawn local time. Paratroopers had already dropped inland hours earlier.
The cost was high: 4,414 Allied troops were killed; more than 5,000 were wounded.
“It was tough,” 99-year-old DDay veteran Robert Gibson said on Omaha Beach yesterday, the Associated Press reported. “We had almost run over bodies to get in the beach. Never forget we were only 18, 19 years old. … I’m glad I made it.”
Jake Larson, on a TikTok feed, said yesterday from the same beach: “How come I’m alive today? … Don’t remember me! Rember all those guys that sacrificed their lives for freedom that we all enjoy today.”