June 6th, 1944.

[archiloco]

Greatest Generation Ever,

unsure if ours could of gone thru so much dispair and challenges.

 

[gigapet]

been watching band of brothers on-demand all weekend.

in memory of the brave men who gave there lives

 

[phantom309]

<-

 

[So]

Originally posted by: Flash1969

 

[The Batt?sai]

Originally posted by: CadetLee

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As also done in P&N, this deserves a couple of days at the top :gift:

Anandtech Moderator

this reminds me of call of duty 2

 

[The Batt?sai]

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: Scarpozzi
Holy crap! That stuff actually happened? I thought Shaving Private Ryan was just a movie! :Q

:disgust:
:roll:
you got it backwards, you saw shaving ryan's privates, not saving private ryan.

LOL

 

[DaiShan]

I actually had forgotten. Thank you for reminding me.

 

[CrackRabbit]

:salute;

 

[SuperSix]

Originally posted by: gigapet
been watching band of brothers on-demand all weekend.

in memory of the brave men who gave there lives

Me too - one of the best series ever made.

I also wathced 2-3 Normandy/D-Day movies over the weekend, good stuff.

After doing some research, I was also amazed how accurate the play and graphics are in COD2.

I got shivers the first time I landed on the beach in that game. :Q

 

[pclstyle]

 

[Lazy8s]

Thank God for men much braver than I

 

[2Dead]

 

[CVSiN]

Originally posted by: loic2003
I never got why they didn't bomb the crap out of the land a whole load more before sending troops... I mean, there shouldn't have been a single bunker standing when the men arrived. Clearly it's a *really fvcking stupid* idea to send men across an open beach against heavy machine gun fire from within bunkers.... I guess they just had to go for it and keep the element of suprise and take it before other german troops were notified...

More amphibious tanks would have been handy also...

they did... and the troops had to land before the tanks and get rid of the tank barracades..

read some history..

 

[Feldenak]

Originally posted by: loic2003
I never got why they didn't bomb the crap out of the land a whole load more before sending troops... I mean, there shouldn't have been a single bunker standing when the men arrived. Clearly it's a *really fvcking stupid* idea to send men across an open beach against heavy machine gun fire from within bunkers.... I guess they just had to go for it and keep the element of suprise and take it before other german troops were notified...

More amphibious tanks would have been handy also...

That only works to a limited extent. Eventually it comes down to your average Infantry grunt closing with and killing the enemy. Also, Tactical surprise was more important than weeks of softening up. It would have been much more difficult to break out of the beachhead had the Germans put proper reinforcements in the right locations.

 

[MikeyLSU]

Originally posted by: Feldenak

Originally posted by: loic2003
I never got why they didn't bomb the crap out of the land a whole load more before sending troops... I mean, there shouldn't have been a single bunker standing when the men arrived. Clearly it's a *really fvcking stupid* idea to send men across an open beach against heavy machine gun fire from within bunkers.... I guess they just had to go for it and keep the element of suprise and take it before other german troops were notified...

More amphibious tanks would have been handy also...

That only works to a limited extent. Eventually it comes down to your average Infantry grunt closing with and killing the enemy. Also, Tactical surprise was more important than weeks of softening up. It would have been much more difficult to break out of the beachhead had the Germans put proper reinforcements in the right locations.

what he said, also it was not nearly as easy to bomb away large areas like it is today. And since this was the land of one of our allies, I'm sure the atomic bomb was out of the question.

 

[ForumMaster]

Let us remember all the troops who faught for, and died so we could be here today.

 

[ruffilb]

Originally posted by: Zim Hosein

Topic Title: June 6th, 1944.
Topic Summary: Let us not forget.

 

[Trente]

Originally posted by: ruffilb

Originally posted by: Zim Hosein

Topic Title: June 6th, 1944.
Topic Summary: Let us not forget.

We will never forget!

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: MikeyLSU

Originally posted by: Feldenak

Originally posted by: loic2003
I never got why they didn't bomb the crap out of the land a whole load more before sending troops... I mean, there shouldn't have been a single bunker standing when the men arrived. Clearly it's a *really fvcking stupid* idea to send men across an open beach against heavy machine gun fire from within bunkers.... I guess they just had to go for it and keep the element of suprise and take it before other german troops were notified...

More amphibious tanks would have been handy also...

That only works to a limited extent. Eventually it comes down to your average Infantry grunt closing with and killing the enemy. Also, Tactical surprise was more important than weeks of softening up. It would have been much more difficult to break out of the beachhead had the Germans put proper reinforcements in the right locations.

what he said, also it was not nearly as easy to bomb away large areas like it is today. And since this was the land of one of our allies, I'm sure the atomic bomb was out of the question.

The first atomic bomb was still over a year away.

In any case, Feldenak is right. The location of the landing site was a very closely held secret. The Germans had to defend the entire coast - the "Atlantic Wall". As such, they were very spread out. If the allies had telegraphed the intended landing site by a prolonged air & sea bombardment, the germans would have had an opportunity to shift their troops and likely defeat the landing. It was touch and go as it was. If it weren't for some key German errors in responding to the attack - many revolving around the rigidity & lack of initiative in the command structure - things might have ended differently.

 

[chambersc]

Originally posted by: K1052

Originally posted by: loic2003
I never got why they didn't bomb the crap out of the land a whole load more before sending troops... I mean, there shouldn't have been a single bunker standing when the men arrived. Clearly it's a *really fvcking stupid* idea to send men across an open beach against heavy machine gun fire from within bunkers.... I guess they just had to go for it and keep the element of suprise and take it before other german troops were notified...

More amphibious tanks would have been handy also...

They tried.

The airstikes mostly missed their targets and the prelanding naval bombardment was too short and not sufficiently intense to disable much of the defenses the Germans had.

It doesn't matter what you think, frankly. Hindsight is 20/20. What happened, with the best intentions, went off relative successfully and the world is better for their determination and dedication.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Thanks OP.
I put The Flag in it's mount for the day at 9:00am and Sis will wear her Flag brouch at work today.

...Galvanized

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

Flag is flying at the house. If you see a Vet thank him.

 

[DainBramaged]

Grandfather, I always heard you were a happy-go-lucky guy before the war. I always heard you were never the same when you came back. Thank you for sacrificing your happiness and right to a normal life for me and every other American.

I love you.

 

[K1052]

Originally posted by: chambersc

Originally posted by: K1052

Originally posted by: loic2003
I never got why they didn't bomb the crap out of the land a whole load more before sending troops... I mean, there shouldn't have been a single bunker standing when the men arrived. Clearly it's a *really fvcking stupid* idea to send men across an open beach against heavy machine gun fire from within bunkers.... I guess they just had to go for it and keep the element of suprise and take it before other german troops were notified...

More amphibious tanks would have been handy also...

They tried.

The airstikes mostly missed their targets and the prelanding naval bombardment was too short and not sufficiently intense to disable much of the defenses the Germans had.

It doesn't matter what you think, frankly. Hindsight is 20/20. What happened, with the best intentions, went off relative successfully and the world is better for their determination and dedication.

My post was merely a statement of fact not any kind of judgment on the men who participated.

 

[jadinolf]

Originally posted by: CadetLee

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As also done in P&N, this deserves a couple of days at the top :gift:

Anandtech Moderator

Thanks.

Although only ten at the time, I remember it well.