“Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade…. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.” Dwight Eisenhower, June 6, 1944
“We stand Alone”-Currahee
In 2003, I was fortunate enough to share my 59th birthday with Don Malarkey, Buck Compton and Wild Bill Guarnere. These men are members of E Company –the “Screaming Eagles”—the most famous company of World War II. In the following months, I spoke to our common friend Vance Day about the joy of visiting Normandy with them. In addition to Normandy, Vance planned and executed a two-week trip that sought to replicate the fighting experience of Easy Company. Our final hurrah should be a trip to Toccoa, Georgia where members of Easy Company trained and bonded. We should march up Mount Currahee, the 1,000-foot mountain that the men of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment had to climb daily. “Currahee” an Indian word meaning, “We Stand Alone,” became the motto for Easy Company.
It can be said that D-Day, June 6th, 1944, is one of the most important days in military history. Failure at D-Day could have meant either two things-both bad for Western Civilization. In the one case, the Soviets and Nazis could have signed a negotiated peace agreement leaving the vast European continent under their respective domains. In the other case, continued Soviet success would have encouraged Stalin to maintain his troops in an occupied territory far beyond the lands collectively called the Iron Curtain. That is, Stalin in essence perceived the communist realm to include all territories occupied by the Red Army or his surrogates.
The Normandy invasion required a huge armada, including 1,200 fighting ships, 4,126 land craft, 804 transport ships, and hundreds of amphibious and other special purpose tanks. The Allied invasion force, consisted of 156,000 soldiers (23,000 airborne) primarily from the United States, Canada, and Great Britain, assaulted the Normandy beaches and began to drive back the German occupying forces from Western Europe. The Americans landed at code-named Utah Beach and Omaha Beach.
Success at D-Day literally was the “Beginning of the End” for Germany. The establishment of a second front meant Germany must deploy significant troops on both their Eastern and Western frontiers and ended any Nazi hopes that they could ward off defeat by establishing a truce with the Soviets. Within eleven months after D-Day, the Nazis unconditionally surrendered.
The allied victory on D-Day was the result of many acts of heroism. Some of the individual acts are remembered. Some are not. In order the capture the American victory at an engagement called Brecourt Manor, a documentary should be completed over the next few months. Twelve members of E Company scored a significant victory at Brecourt Manor over fifty well-fortified Germans
Five hours before the invasion began, C-47s and gliders made drops of paratroopers from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions into the peninsula with the objectives of disrupting German lines of communications and defenses. We visited their landings near the town of Sainte-Mere-Englise.
During the morning of November 6th, the Allied forces at parts of Utah Beach were taking indirect fire from a batter of 4 105 mm guns just inland. These guns were situated in a field to the north of an estate known as Brecourt Manor. It was imperative that these guns were taken out.
Twelve men of Easy Company led by Lt. Richard Winters successfully defeated a force of over 50 German soldiers, and destroyed the four guns. Last summer, a West Point instructor said to a group of us, “The attack was a unique example of a small, well-led assault force overcoming and routing a much larger force. The high morale of E Company, their quickness, audacity, and bravery demoralized the German forces and convinced them that they were being besieged by a much larger force.” The grandson of the French farmer who owned Brecourt Manor welcomed our group back to their farm. Only a privileged few have the opportunity to visit this site because it is privately owned. For their gallant services, Don received the Bronze Medal and Buck received the Silver Star.
American success at Utah beach conformed to expectations; however, the German resistance as Omaha Beach was formidable. In order to secure the later, American rangers had to scale the 100-foot cliffs at Pointe du Hoc and capture the German strongpoint. From this point, the Germans had a perfect view and using machine guns and 155-mm cannon could effectively prevent the American effort to move inland. The American ranger force suffered some 75% casualty rate to secure this strategic German strongpoint. Looking down from the German position, one would think this fortification was invincible and the Americans would sustain 100% casualty rate.
Our final stop was at the American Military Cemetery of Colleville/St Laurent that dominates Omaha Beach. This cemetery is a focal point for people of many nations to pay their respects. In this cemetery are the graves of 9.386 Americans who died in the Normandy campaign, and a further 1,557 names of the missing are inscribed on its memorial. Eloise, Buck and Don laid a wreath in memory of their friends and relatives who have died serving our country. After the playing of the Star-Spangled Banner and Taps, many people came up to Buck and Don, and shared memories and feelings with them. Needless to say, we were all emotionally touched by the experience.
The next morning, we visited the Caen Memorial that traces 20th century history from World War II to the Cold War. In the afternoon we traveled to the Pegasus Bridge north of Caen captured during the night of June 5th and June 6th by the Allies by the British 6th Airborne Brigade whose emblem is the flying horse Pegasus. At the American cemetery at Colleville, we met a distinguished veteran of the British 6th Brigade who shared some reminisces with Eloise and myself.
In conclusion, the opportunity to share my trip to Normandy with veterans and history enthusiasts was particularly enjoyable.
