"We're not in placid waters by any means," said Whitby.Īfter minesweepers cleared the mines, a vessel called a danlayer laid buoys that had flags on them and flashing lights. While the invasion was originally scheduled for June 5, 1944, it was postponed a day because of the weather. Whitby said the English Channel is notorious for its strong riptides and currents, which meant the minesweepers had to adjust their positions frequently. Using this formation, the minesweepers would use equipment that extended up to a kilometre from the ship to cut the cables that attached the mines to the seabed. It’s too early to declare victory, of course, but positive signs are in the air.American troops land at Omaha Beach on D-Day. And as we survey the current scene, the numbers are trending downwards, the curve has flattened, and it looks like we might have seen the worst of COVID-19. And I’ve been seeing it in the current crisis as well. Floods, fires, earthquakes, you name it: Americans do what needs to be done. They’ll give you the shirt off their back if you need it. Here in New Orleans, we feel we have a constitutional right to eat at any restaurant we choose, and the notion of all of them closing at once really did seem like a state of emergency.īut here’s something else about Americans that I’ve learned in my 61 years of living among them. We like our personal freedoms, our sense of “rugged individuality.” We come and go as we please. That last one-teamwork-can sometimes appear to be difficult for Americans. These are all soldierly virtues-pounded into the recruit from the moment s/he joins the service, but they are not a bad guide to civilian life, either. A willingness to put your own needs on hold and put those of others first. As I write this, the country is in the grip of an economic shutdown that has now stretched into months. Rather than the “big bang” of the Omaha landing, this operation is slow, grinding, and immensely frustrating.Īnd yet, many of the same virtues that the US Army demonstrated on Omaha are exactly what the nation needs today. We have obstacles in front us, too, not the German army and its gigantic concrete fortifications, but a devious, microscopic foe, an infection curve that needs flattening, “stay at home orders” and social distances that our doctors tell us need to be maintained in order to slow the enemy’s pace. Today, we’re on a beach of our own, not “Omaha” or “Utah,” but COVID-19. Landing craft and soldiers approach Omaha Beach, the deadliest battleground on D-Day. You’ll ask yourself, “How did our heroes even get ashore?” If you ever get a chance to travel to Normandy, be sure to visit the stretch of coastline between Vierville- and Colleville-sur-Mer, the beach codenamed “Omaha.” You’ll see the sea in front of you, cliffs behind you, and between them, a series of hulking German fortifications, or Widerstandnesten (“resistance nests.”) As you stand there and survey the ground, you’ll probably have the same reaction that I do and that thousands of visitors have every year. In Normandy, the task involved an enemy-held beach, well-sited machine gun nests, concrete bunkers, and forbidding bluffs. Then, as now, there was a difficult job to be done. And yet, the present moment seems like an appropriate time to recall what happened in Normandy on that long-ago June morning. This year isn’t one of the “major” anniversaries-the 50th or 75th or 100th, for example. Indeed, we began our existence as a “D-Day Museum,” dedicated to preserving the memory of those stirring events of 1944, and we never fail to call them to mind when June 6 rolls around. It’s the anniversary of D-Day, a special day for The National WWII Museum. Top Image: Combat artist Harrison Standley's "Exit from Omaha Beach" painted after the beach and bluffs had been secured.
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