06/06/2026
in 1944 — — and Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy. Three years of planning had changed the world forever. For as Roosevelt prayed to : “Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity…by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.”
The objective of D-Day was to break Hitler’s seemingly impregnable Atlantic Wall, and in so doing, create a second front—what had crippled during WWI. The optimal target was the port city of Calais: the shortest route to Germany, the shortest route to the Rhineland (the N**i industrial base), and close enough to to provide crucial Allied air support. But Germany understood this and thus maintained its strongest defenses in Calais. The Allies, in turn, settled on the 50-mile stretch of beaches in .
For months, they clandestinely developed fake armies, tanks, and radio traffic to trick N**i reconnaissance into believing that Calais—not Normandy—was their actual target. The date to attack was June 5. But poor weather delayed the invasion by 24 hours. Based on tidal patterns, any further delay would force another two-week postponement. General Eisenhower therefore ordered a June 6 invasion. It was a necessary but fateful decision; strong currents landed many troops up to 2,000 yards from Omaha Beach’s preferred targets—exposing them to D-Day’s deadliest machine gun fire.
But in a scene worthy of Homer, 160,000 American, , and troops—operating 12,000 aircrafts, 4,000 landing crafts, 3,000 tanks, and 1,200 warships—broke through N**i-controlled . It was the largest seaborne invasion in history. The ensuing victory turned the tide of , enabling the Allies to push the Germans back toward on the Western Front, just as the Soviets worked to achieve the same on the Eastern Front. By 1945, both had reached the German capital, tolling the death knell for the N**i’s reign of terror.
One day after the historic invasion, a NYT editorial reflected on the greatest of the Greatest Generation: “A year, two years ago,” soldiers “were the grinning, careless youngsters, we saw on the campuses and ball fields and streets of every town. Now they are steeled and exalted into men; they are the heroes in the hardest and most crucial adventure in .
“All too literally, their flesh and their spirit are our shield, the shield of the Republic.”
in Photo: an orphan helmet in Normandy
