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    Deployed service members reflect on D-Day

    Deployed service members reflect on  D-Day

    Courtesy Photo | Troops in an LCVP landing craft approach Omaha Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Note the...... read more read more

    AL ASAD, IRAQ

    06.25.2009

    Story by Lance Cpl. Jason Hernandez 

    II Marine Expeditionary Force   

    AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq — In the pre-dawn darkness that covered the English Channel on June 6, 1944, more than 100,000 men prepared to board small landing craft and beaching vessels. Overhead, hundreds of planes buzzed past to deliver lightly equipped, but heavily trained, glider and airborne troops. Nearly every available aircraft was on its way across the channel to bring a rain of ruin like none other to German forces occupying defenses along the French coast. In a few hours it would come down to 156,000 U.S., British and Canadian troops battling it out against 360,000 German defenders.

    Despite what one may believe when studying the complexity of the planning and organization of D-Day leading up to that one moment when the first boots set down on France, their ultimate goal was inherently simple — liberate France from a tyrannical regime and restore peace to the European continent.

    Sixty-five years later, on June 6, 2009, 140,000 U.S. military personnel found themselves even further from home, in an even more alien land. Though the experiences between these two forces could not be more different, the cause of their deployment is almost exactly the same — to aid an ally in need.

    But what legacy have the men, who 65 years ago bravely stormed the beaches of Normandy, left the members of the U.S. military today? What messages have young Americans taken from the "Greatest Generation"?

    "Never quit," said Army Staff Sgt. Enrique Regalado, an operations chief with the U.S. Army's 2nd Infantry Division. "The Germans were dug-in behind hardened positions and in concrete bunkers; the men storming the beaches didn't have all of the technology we have today, and they didn't have [personal protective equipment]. That's something we should all try to carry with us today."

    Soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who look back 65 years may find it difficult to place themselves in the boots of men dropping into the scarred landscape of Normandy.

    "I remember my squadron was doing bombing runs over Serbia when [the movie] Saving Private Ryan came out," recalled Cmdr. Douglas Thien, the air boss with the Base Command Group aboard Al Asad Air Base, Iraq. "After seeing the opening 20 minutes of that movie, I was glad I joined the Navy. Flying a plane, you're four or five miles away from your target. On D-Day, those guys weren't just staring death in the face, they were charging at it."

    According to many accounts, some soldiers spent hours making it from the waterline to the base of the bunkers along the shore. Low-crawling the entire way, members of the Army's 1st Infantry Division faced battle-hardened German troops manning MG-42s which could spit out bullets at a rate of 1,200 rounds per minute accurately, up to ranges of 800 meters.

    The events of that cloudy summer day along the once picturesque beaches of the Norman coast are one of the few times during the Second World War in which both U.S soldiers and Marines could relate, in terms of layout of battle. As Operation Overlord was unfolding, the 'Island Hopping' campaign in the Pacific Theater was in full-swing, spearheaded by the Marine Corps.

    "I think as the U.S. military's expeditionary forces, the Marine Corps should look at every amphibious operation which took place during the war," said Cpl. Marcus Bridges, a supply administrative clerk with II Marine Expeditionary Headquarters Group (Forward). "A lot of people say that 'history repeats itself. Well, it's better to be prepared for it than reminded by it."

    Although much of the battle for the Normandy beachheads were over by the afternoon of the first day, it was not without flaw. Some units landed on the wrong beaches. Instead of fighting the poorly equipped secondary units of the Heer (German army) they were put up against elite German outfits.

    Glider aircraft designed to land in open fields were crushed, killing all inside, when they slammed into telephone poles nicknamed "Rommel's Esperigus," placed deliberately by German engineers in potential landing fields to damage or destroy incoming glider-borne troops.

    Paratroopers being hastily dropped under heavier-than-expected anti-aircraft fire were scattered across the countryside, and though not done intentionally, this actually confused enemy commanders who grossly inflated airborne numbers after reading the spectacular reports from panicked field commanders.

    "It shows that 'improvise, adapt and overcome' isn't just some generic saying," said Lance Cpl. Christopher Gary, a basic warehouseman with II MHG (Fwd). "There were a lot of things that happened that day that shouldn't have happened. But guys on the ground, commanders and enlisted guys, had to come up with plans on the spot."

    And overcome they did. By the end of the first day, more than 5,000 German soldiers lay dead. Nearly all the defensive positions covering the landing areas were overrun and cleared. The Luftwaffe (German air force) units originally based in the area were destroyed. In one day, the Allied forces overcame the defensive network Germany had spent four years building.

    However, like the Coalition's drive into Iraq in 2003, it wasn't that simple. While the Allies broke through the German defenses that day, the following weeks would see more bloodshed as the Allies advanced into the hedgerows of Normandy, a region perfectly laid out for a defensive war.

    Beginning in 2003 in Iraq, soldiers from more than 30 Coalition countries found themselves fighting an enemy that didn't wear uniforms, but instead blended in with the rest of the population.

    In both instances, young service members embarking on noble quests would find themselves facing unique and complex challenges. Proving that improvising, adapting and overcoming is a universal and continuous concept.

    Throughout both of these quests, one thing was abundantly clear to the men and women who served in these most dangerous of conflicts: they would forever be remembered by their children and grandchildren.

    "As a kid, I remember [my father and uncle] talking about the events of those days, their comrades and what it was like to be part of such a monumental event," said Navy Capt. Craig A. Scharton, commanding officer of Navy Mobile Construction Battalion 24. "I recall their conversations when only 20 years had gone by. I hope we can live up to the legacy of the "Greatest Generation," to keep America strong and to help maintain peace and freedom in the world."

    And so on this anniversary of D-Day, as service members and veterans look back on the great accomplishments of the past, they should review the lessons learned and legacies passed on so that one day, future generations may look back with pride and admiration on their service to their country, from the hot deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan.

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 06.25.2009
    Date Posted: 06.25.2009 10:45
    Story ID: 35606
    Location: AL ASAD, IQ

    Web Views: 275
    Downloads: 179

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