Free Republic

Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon a great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers in arms on other fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world. Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is...

One of the Bay State’s dwindling number of D-Day veterans recalls the Normandy Invasion — 69 years ago today — as a day when he and other young men “made a difference.”

12:30 a.m., June 6, 1944...

At the Vineland (N.J.) Veterans Memorial Home, assistant business manager William H. Palmer Jr. has a special bond with the 175 or so World War II veterans who live there. His father, Ensign William H. Palmer, was part of a secret mission during the D-Day invasion that delivered messages from the command ship Ancon to the shore during days of radio silence. … Just like Butch Maisel, a Baltimore history teacher whose father landed on D-Day, Palmer is determined to carry forth the legacy. “I went to find out what my father did on D-Day,” he said, and the research...

Today we traveled from Caen, to Sainte-Mere-Eglise, home to the museum for the United States Airborne troops from WW2. The town was abuzz with dozens and dozens of U.S. Military jeeps and tanks. Every one of them driving the streets, yes, driving. These are all WW2 hardware, which was never returned to the U.S, and have been restored to pristine, war era condition.To add to the realism, dozens and dozens of men were dressed in U.S. military uniform, the same worn during the D Day invasion. Honestly, it was difficult to not believe these men/actors, weren’t the real thing.

<p>Mixing real tanks alongside the inflatable ones, the troops appeared to be assembling a massive attack. Their fake observation planes were so convincing, American pilots tried to land in the field next to them. When the offensive finally made its move across the Rhine, with General Dwight Eisenhower and Prime Minister Winston Churchill watching, they were met with little German resistance. The riverbanks were left for the taking and the Ghost Army earned a commendation for its success.</p>

'These ghostly images reveal the forgotten harbour built off the coast of Normandy that for six months after D-Day became the world's busiest docks. British scientists have found the remnants of Mulberry B on the Channel seabed, which allowed the Allies to land troops, vehicles and equipment on French soil without having to capture a port first. The makeshift harbour, nicknamed Port Winston because it was the brainchild of Churchill, was the size of Dover and is considered to be one of the greatest military achievements of all time. Its development was even described by Albert Speer - Hitler's architect...

'Dirty Dozen' hero from Oklahoma has died. James “Jake” McNiece led a World War II group hours before the June 6, 1944, invasion to destroy bridges to prevent German reinforcements from moving into Normandy. By Michael McNutt | Published: January 21, 2013 James “Jake” McNiece, the leader of a World War II group that came to be known as the “Dirty Dozen,” died Monday, family members said. He was 93. McNiece, a retired Ponca City postal worker, commanded a group of rough men nicknamed “The Filthy 13,” who served as the inspiration for the movie “The Dirty Dozen.” Hours before...

Sergeant-Major Stan Hollis, of Middlesbrough was the only soldier awarded a VC at D-Day and is believed to have gunned down 100 German soldiersDuring the early hours of June 6, 1944 - D-Day - lines of scared young soldiers waited in the dark for the order to board the landing craft that would take them into battle on the beaches of northern France. At the last minute they were issued with an unexpected piece of equipment — a condom each! ‘What are these for?’ boomed out the voice of Sergeant-Major Stan Hollis, a hulking power-house of a man from...

Gord Young, from Peterborough, in Ontario, says it took him 17 minutes to decypher the message after realising a code book he inherited was the key. Mr Young says the 1944 note uses a simple World War I code to detail German troop positions in Normandy. GCHQ says it would be interested to see his findings. Blocks of code The message was discovered by 74-year-old David Martin when he was renovating the chimney of his house in Bletchingley, Surrey. Among the rubbish, he found parts of a dead pigeon - including a leg, attached to which was a red canister....

Historians from GCHQ are appealing for the veteran codebreakers of Bletchley Park to volunteer for one last act of service for their country: cracking the D-Day carrier pigeon cipher that has stumped Britain's finest minds. The coded message had been carefully filed in a small red capsule and attached to a carrier pigeon to be delivered 70 years ago. But instead of arriving safely at its destination, the unfortunate bird got stuck in a chimney en-route and lost. The message was found earlier this month by homeowner David Martin, who ripped out a fireplace to find the skeleton while renovating...

Remains Of World War II Military Pigeon Ignites Code Mystery Back in 1982, David Martin discovered the remains of a pigeon while renovating his chimney. Upon closer inspection he noticed that the dead bird had a red capsule attached to its leg, what has now been confirmed as a top secret message that was en route to an unknown location in Britain during World War II. Ignored for three decades, code experts are now trying to decrypt the secret message. Though rarely discussed, pigeons were widely used during the war as an old-school way to transmit messages. Among the benefits,...

U.S. Paratroopers with Mohawks - World War II

Sixty-eight years ago this week, my father, Ralph “Pat” Malone, bored with being confined to barracks with the rest of the 401st bomb group, sneaked off his base at Deenthorpe, England, and rode a bicycle into the nearby village to a pub to meet a local girl he was sweet on. Hours later, as he rode back, he noticed that all of the lights on the base were on and, hidden behind a rise in the landscape, the 36 B-17s were already revving up.

Was D-Day the beginning of a heroic crusade to “Free Europe” or was it a pyrrhic victory for the United States? Did the collectivism that grew at home during World War II help save our liberty or destroy it? Today marks the 68th anniversary of the invasion of fortress Europe by Allied forces, better known as “D-Day.” On that day 156,000 Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy. Over 4,000 of them were killed and another 6,000 were wounded. On the German side it is estimated that 4,000-9,000 German soldiers were killed and wounded. Over 425,000 Allied and German...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Today is D-Day. How many people do you think know what D-Day is? Do you think, over 40 years old, only half know what D-Day is? Wow. D-Day, of course, the invasion at Normandy, World War II, the Allies invading France and getting it back from the Nazis. I was there. Not when it happened. I went later. Omaha Beach, it's an amazing place. If you ever get a chance, go to France, Omaha Beach, Normandy. Go to Pointe-Du-Hoc. It's spelled, for those of you in Rio Linda, Pointe-Du-Hoc. This is where the Army Rangers climbed 200...

Video of Jake McNiece, WWII Vet and whose exploits the movie "The Dirty Dozen" was based up

General Dwight Eisenhower arrived in London to head Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) during the last five months of planning for D-Day. He achieved much more than the popular portrayal of managing a political/military alliance. Though he never led troops in combat, his leadership sustained many unprecedented initiatives for the successful Normandy landings. The air assault examples the frightful uncertainties plaguing critical hazards run on this “Day of Days”. The night before D-Day, 20,400 American and British paratroopers dropped behind the Normandy beaches from 1,250 C-47 aircraft plus gliders. This massive assault was attempted just 17 years after Charles...

SIERRA VISTA — Like tens of thousands of American soldiers, Allen Waller did not land on either Utah or Omaha beaches on June 6, 1944. But like tens of thousands of GIs he would enter France as the slugfest to defeat the Germans, first in the country across from Great Britain and later other parts of western Europe became the battlefields of freedom, ending with Nazi Germany’s surrender nearly 11 months after the D-day invasion. Sitting in his Sierra Vista kitchen, the 87-year-old Waller talked about his entry into France, his wounding in that nation, his recuperation in England, his...

Well its D-Day + 68 years. As of 5:15 A.M. on this historic day Google has chosen to commemorate the drive in movie theatre.