Re: TNET: Clemson and Memorial Day: Where do we find such men?

ColumbiaTiger66

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May 27, 2024, 10:43 AM

David, I had the privilege of visiting Normandy last year on a 7-day "Beaches of Normandy" tour. I highly recommend it.

The chronicles of the invasion seem to concentrate on the Omaha landing and the cliffs at Pointe-du-Hoc. That's also one of the favorite parts of a visit to Normandy, but the overwhelming sense of awe for me was the narrow geographical scope of the beachfront from Sword Beach to the North (where I spent 5 nights) to Utah Beach to the South.

The guide books and maps list it as 69 miles point-to-point, but that's the mileage covered by vehicle and you have to drive inland to get to the highway and then from the highway back to the beach, so the distance on the beach is more like 30 miles. When you stand at the beach and realize how much equipment and how many men poured onto that narrow stretch of beach, you can almost see the flotilla logjam in front of you. At Sword beach there are no cliffs and the elevation is like being at Myrtle Beach with no sand dunes.

You also realize that given our successful disinformation had the Germans confused and without their main force at our landing spot...... and a batallion of German tanks poised to go to either the advertised attack point or south to Normandy held back from crossing the river because they needed Hitler's orders to move and he had left orders not to wake him - and was asleep when the attack started.

Just before that tank battalion was ready to cross the river to Normandy, a squadron of towed-gliders landed on the south bank of the river and the Allies blew the bridge. That in itself was a minor miracle because the overcast condition cleared moments before they were going to abort due to no visibility. Where they landed was an incredibly narrow river bank which if they overshot the landing, they would crash into the bridge. This was at night in a situation where there were no go-arounds or second chances. I stood on that riverbank astounded at what they were able to do that night.

The craters from bombs and naval gunfire are still very evident around the German gun mounts and pillboxes - depressions about 20' across and 10' deep - not as deep as when they were originally made as time has allowed weather to fill in some of the depth. You can tell the difference between air-dropped bomb craters and naval ordinance craters - the air-dropped ones are round and shaped like a bowl, but the naval ordinance comes in at an angle and makes a teaar-drop shaped impression - deeper at one end. Thousands of pounds of ordinance is still recovered each year from those beaches and many areas around the German bunkers are roped off due to potential explosions if ordinance is uncovered.

The overall impression I got with respect to tactics and execution was the incredible logistical planning, production capability, sense of purpose and nearly flawless execution and bravery that allowed that landing to be successful. We caught the Germans nearly flat-footed, out-of-position and over-manned. Their main force was many miles away, their 5 big guns which had been removed for rebuilding of new bunker implacements had not been remounted because it took 1 year for fresh concrete in those bunkers to cure sufficiently to allow mounting and it was less than 1 year from the construction pour. We took a lot of casualties from what advantages the Germans did have from their defensive positions, but in reality they never had a chance against the magnitude of what we put on those beaches.

It's very hard to imagine what happened without seeing the area in person. A lot of things happened that provided us with very good luck, but in the end it was the resolve of our nation that paved the way for success.

I wonder and worry if we could ever accomplish something so unbelievable again.

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Incredible article David! You truly have a gift with words!! I have toured the Gettysburg Battlefields, Cowpens, Manassas, Fort McHenry, the Cemetery at Normandy and surrounding Beaches. There is an erie feeling as you walk across the fresh grassy fields that were once the platform for the greatest stands for freedom known to man. What courage, bravery and commitment it must have taken to continue forward while watching many of your brothers in this eternal pursuit fall by the wayside in a bloody heap. The Cemetary at Normandy is Special. It is truly a place of honor! If your heart doesn't soften and your eyes well up at the sight of the thousands of bleached white headstones I would wonder if you have a heart at all.

We have a daughter that lives in Metz, France and now has dual citizenship. As a result of her 14 years in France we have visited numerous historical battlegrounds. Recently we visited the largest U.S. Military Cemetery in France. I had assumed that the Normandy Cemetary was the largest. This monument is the Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial. There lies the graves of 10,487 American Military soldiers and listed on marble walls adjacent is 444 names of soldiers Missing In Action. There are 30 sets of brothers who are buried side by side. The sight is immaculate. The memorial itself is breathtaking, but the grounds were manicured to an extreme degree of detail. The day we visited there were 5 John Deere mowers buzzing throughout the headstones and the hedges were trimmed in perfectly squared shapes gently sloping toward the graves.

A couple of situations happened while we were in Metz that made me proud to be an American: 1) While visiting the Musee de la Moselle 1939 - 1945, the tour presenters were extremely complimentary of the American soldiers who liberated the area and especially the antics of General Patton. Afterward they discovered that my wife and I were Americans. They took our picture and posted it on their website.
2) A neighbor 2 doors down from our daughter saw me helping trim the hedges one day and walked down and struck up a conversation with our son-in-law. As he was leaving I asked what he had said. He told him that his Dad had been held in Dacau Concentration Camp and the Americans had liberated him among the others. He said he was eternally grateful for what the Amercans had done. He realized I was American and wanted to shake my hande before he left.

The 3rd Army liberated Metz, Saarsburg, St. Avold and the surrounding areas. Patton moved so swiftly across France that he outran his supplies in Metz, giving the Germans time to reinforce while they were waiting. Patton set up headquarters in Luxembourg and used it as a springboard as he headed to Bastogne for the "Battle of the Bulge".

TNET: Clemson and Memorial Day: Where do we find such men?