More than 150,000 U.S. and Allied troops were huddled inside rain-soaked camps scattered throughout southeast England on June 6, 1944, when Gen. Dwight Eisenhower’s voice suddenly crackled over the radio: “You are about to embark on the Great Crusade toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you.”
“Your task will not be an easy one,” the somber message continued. “Your enemy is well-trained, well-equipped, and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely.”
Gen. Eisenhower, the commander of Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force, had just given the order to initiate Operation Overlord, the long-awaited invasion of France to help free the continent from the grip of Nazi tyranny.
President Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and a slew of world leaders — along with a dwindling few of the now-elderly soldiers, sailors and airmen who listened to Ike’s address that day — will assemble again on the North Atlantic beaches of Normandy to commemorate what remains to this day still the largest amphibious operation in history.
In a sign of the times, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will be among the dignitaries attending the event as a guest of Mr. Macron, while Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country’s forces helped bring down Hitler’s forces, was not asked to come.
The official delegations will have their role, but center stage even 80 years later still belongs to those in uniform who took on the daunting challenges of the day.
Marie Scott was a radio operator on D-Day whose job was to transmit messages to the invading forces as they stormed the beaches. What she heard through her headset triggered strong emotions at the time and continues to do so eight decades later.
“You’ve got living people on the other end of the line and they’re in danger. I realized what I was hearing — rapid machine gun fire, the sounds of artillery and men shouting orders,” Ms. Scott told British defense officials on Wednesday. “Some men were just screaming. But men are allowed to scream when they’re frightened. There was a lot to be frightened of.”
Rep. Dan Crenshaw, Texas Republican, and his fellow Republican, Rep. Mike Waltz of Florida, are among a handful of combat veteran lawmakers who will be parachuting into France to commemorate this year’s milestone anniversary.
“Take a moment to remember those who fought and the amazing feat that our paratroopers accomplished. Most of the generations alive now were born long after June 6, 1944,” said Mr. Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL who lost his right eye in 2012 from an improvised explosive device (IED) while serving in Afghanistan.
“We owe everything to that day. All the good things that make us Americans — our freedoms and traditions and values — only persist because some brave men were willing to sacrifice everything to protect them,” Mr. Crenshaw said.
The number of veterans who landed on the beaches or parachuted behind the lines shrinks by the day. Even the youngest D-Day soldiers are now well into their 90s. Mr. Macron, who will host President Biden for a state visit after Thursday’s commemorations, said the French people will never forget their sacrifices.
“France’s gratitude is assured to them forever, and we will express it to the veterans who - an immense honor for our country — for still be with us that day,” he said in a statement Wednesday. “It pushes us to ask ourselves the price we are prepared to pay for our freedom and the defense of our values. It reminds us of the importance of a unified Europe, of the strength of our alliances, in a world once again full of risks and uncertainties.”
Normandy and Ukraine
Mr. Biden’s visit to France comes amid the deadliest fighting in Europe since World War II as invading Russian forces continue striking targets inside Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to take part in the activities in Normandy and meet with Mr. Biden on the sidelines during the visit, officials said.
Mr. Biden’s itinerary includes a visit to a cemetery near the landing beaches containing American military dead from the war. He’ll also speak on Friday at Pointe du Hoc, a spot on the French coast where Army Rangers scaled seaside cliffs to overcome Nazi defenses.
Biden administration officials are pointedly linking the allied struggle against the Nazis to the coalition today fighting to turn back Russian invading forces in Ukraine. White House National Security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One that the president in his remarks, plans to focus on “the dangers of isolationism, and how, if we back dictators and fail to stand up to them, they keep going and ultimately America and the world pays a greater price,” the Associated Press reported Wednesday.
“Eighty years later, we see dictators once again attempting to challenge the order, attempting to march in Europe,” Mr. Sullivan said, “and that freedom-loving nations need to rally to stand against that, as we have.”
Despite the passing of the decades, the outlines of the day’s struggles are clearly visible in the coast’s haunting geography.
British and Canadian forces landed at Gold, Juno, and Sword beaches along the Normandy coast. More than 73,000 U.S. soldiers landed at the two beaches assigned to the Americans: code-named Omaha and Utah — or parachuted into France with the 82nd or 101st Airborne divisions.
Soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division landed at Utah, the most western beach sector and the smallest at just three miles long. The casualties there were also lightest. Out of 23,000 troops in Utah, only 197 men were killed or wounded in the invasion.
However, that wasn’t the case for the soldiers from the 1st and 29th Infantry divisions who landed at Omaha. It was six miles across and concave-shaped. The beach was dominated by high ground, giving the defending Germans the ability to lay deadly fire down on the invading troops.
On Tuesday, retired Army Lt. Col. Michael Bigelow, command historian for the Army’s Intelligence and Security Command, spoke at the National Museum of the U.S. Army about one relatively little-explored aspect of the battle — the intelligence work that took place before the invasion.
“Omaha Beach was a terrible place to fight a battle. It gave all the advantages or most of them to the defenders,” Col. Bigelow said. “The Germans had wonderful observation and field of fire over the Americans. The Americans, not so much.”
The American troops at Omaha Beach suffered about 2,400 casualties — about the same figure as all the other beaches combined. But, by nightfall, the U.S. managed to land 34,000 troops there and established a permanent beachhead in France.
“These are the fighters who came to Normandy to defend the flame of liberty,” Mr. Macron said. “May the example of these heroes and heroines strengthen our determination and our confidence in a future of peace and security.”
— This article was based in part on wire service reports.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.