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June 6, 1944 (1 Viewer)

Henry Ford said:
I often wonder how Europe views today.
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I think it depends on who you talk to. It's been my experience that the everyday folk that were liberated hold today in high honor and go out of their way to set the soldiers who freed them on a very high pedestal (and not just today but every time a WWII vet makes the trip). The politicians are the ones who tend to muck it up sometimes.

 
People often aren't aware of it but at the same time as D-Day the USA was engaged in the Battle of Saipan in the Pacific, where 100,000 US and Japanes soldiers engaged on an island roughly the size of Orleans Parish.

Assigned the task of taking Saipan, Marine Lieutenant General Holland Smith's V Amphibious Corps, comprised of the 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions and the 27th Infantry Division, departed Pearl Harbor on June 5, 1944, a day before Allied forces landed in Normandy half a world away.
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In planning for the island's defense, Saito had markers placed offshore to aid in ranging artillery as well as ensured that proper defense emplacements and bunkers were built and manned.
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American ships appeared offshore and commenced a pre-invasion bombardment on June 13. Lasting two days and employing several battleships that had been damaged in the attack on Pearl Harbor, the bombardment ended as elements of the 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions moved forward at 7:00 AM on June 15. Supported by close in naval gunfire, the Marines landed on Saipan's southwestern coast and took some losses to Japanese artillery. Battling their way ashore, the Marine's secured a beachhead approximately six miles wide by half a mile deep by nightfall.

Battle of Saipan - Grinding Down the Japanese:Repelling Japanese counterattacks that night, the Marines continued pushing inland the next day. On June 16, the 27th Division came ashore and began driving on Aslito Airfield. Continuing his tactic of counterattacking after dark, Saito was unable to push the US Army troops back and soon was compelled to abandon the airfield. As fighting raged ashore, Admiral Soemu Toyoda , Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet, commenced Operation A-Go and launched a large attack on US naval forces in the Marianas. Blocked by Spruance and Mitscher, he was badly defeated on June 19-20 at the Battle of the Philippine Sea.
This action at sea effectively sealed Saito and Nagumo's fate on Saipan as there was no longer any hope of relief or resupply. Forming his men in a strong defensive line around Mount Tapotchau, Saito conducted an effective defense designed to maximize American losses. This saw the Japanese use the terrain to great advantage including fortifying the island's numerous caves. Moving slowly, American troops utilized flamethrowers and explosives to expel the Japanese from these positions. Frustrated by a lack of progress by the 27th Infantry Division, Smith sacked its commander, Major General Ralph Smith, on June 24.
This engendered controversy as Holland Smith was a Marine and Ralph Smith was US Army. In addition, the former failed to scout the terrain through which the 27th was fighting and was unaware of its severe and difficult nature. As US forces pushed back the Japanese, the actions of Private First Class Guy Gabaldon came to the fore. A Mexican-American from Los Angeles, Gabaldon had been partly raised by a Japanese family and spoke the language. Approaching Japanese positions, he was effective in convincing enemy troops to surrender. Ultimately capturing over 1,000 Japanese, he was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions.

Battle of Saipan - Victory:With the battle turning against the defenders, Emperor Hirohito became concerned about the propaganda damage of Japanese civilians surrendering to the Americans. To counteract this, he issued a decree stating that Japanese civilians that committed suicide would enjoy an enhanced spiritual status in the afterlife. While this message was transmitted on July 1, Saito had begun arming civilians with whatever weapons could be procured including spears. Increasingly driven towards the island's northern end, he prepared to make a final banzai attack.
Surging forward shortly after dawn on July 7, over 3,000 Japanese, including wounded, struck the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 105th Infantry Regiment. Nearly overwhelming the American lines, the attack lasted over fifteen hours and decimated the two battalions. Reinforcing the front, American forces succeeded in turning back the assault and the few Japanese survivors retreated north. As the Marines and Army forces eliminated the final Japanese resistance, Turner declared the island secured on July 9. The next morning, Saito, already wounded, committed suicide rather than surrender. He was preceded in this act by Nagumo who committed suicide in the battle's final days. Though American forces actively encouraged the surrender of Saipan's civilians, thousands heeded the emperors' call to kill themselves with many jumping from the island's high cliffs.
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Aftermath of the Battle of SaipanThough mopping up operations continued for a few days, the Battle of Saipan was effectively over. In the fighting, American forces sustained 3,426 killed and 13,099 wounded. Japanese losses were approximately 29,000 killed (in action and suicides) and 921 captured. In addition, over 20,000 civilians were killed (in action and suicides). The American victory at Saipan was quickly followed by successful landings on Guam (July 21) and Tinian (July 24). With Saipan secured, American forces quickly worked to improve the island's airfields and within four months the first B-29 raid was conducted against Tokyo.

Due to the island's strategic position, one Japanese admiral later commented that "Our war was lost with the loss of Saipan." The defeat also led to changes in the Japanese government as Prime Minister General Hideki Tojo was compelled to resign.
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The bombs that ended the war, finally, were dropped from planes that took off from this strategic island (with Tinian).

The Battle of the Phillipine Sea was and remains the largest naval battle in world history.

http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/worldwari1/p/philippinesea.htm

The USA was actively engaged in two massive amphibious invasions at the same designed to end the war effectively at the same time in two theatres at opposite spots of the world. Incredible.

 
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Speaking of Orleans Parish - not everyone knows that the D-Day invasion depended on those flat-bottomed boats the soldiers came out of - without them, there was no way to land on/near the beaches with equipment fast enough to avoid getting torn to pieces (moreso than they were.) They were called Higgins boats, after Andrew Higgins, the man who designed and built them. Eisenhower called him "the man who won the war for us" because of those boats. They were based on flat-bottomed bayou boats and built in Orleans Parish.

Picture of Bayou St. John filled with Higgins boats.

 
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Henry Ford said:
Speaking of Orleans Parish - not everyone knows that the D-Day invasion depended on those flat-bottomed boats the soldiers came out of - without them, there was no way to land on/near the beaches with equipment fast enough to avoid getting torn to pieces (moreso than they were.) They were called Higgins boats, after Andrew Higgins, the man who designed and built them. Eisenhower called him "the man who won the war for us" because of those boats. They were based on flat-bottomed bayou boats and built in Orleans Parish.

Picture of Bayou St. John filled with Higgins boats.
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Henry Ford said:
Higgins boats being built

I love the "The Guy Who Relaxes Is Helping The Axis" sign.
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Was just talking to an old timer about this week.

I will probably be heading over to the WW2 Museum today just to see what's going on, they usually have special events planned for D-Day.

GBA

 
SaintsInDome2006 said:
Henry Ford said:
Speaking of Orleans Parish - not everyone knows that the D-Day invasion depended on those flat-bottomed boats the soldiers came out of - without them, there was no way to land on/near the beaches with equipment fast enough to avoid getting torn to pieces (moreso than they were.) They were called Higgins boats, after Andrew Higgins, the man who designed and built them. Eisenhower called him "the man who won the war for us" because of those boats. They were based on flat-bottomed bayou boats and built in Orleans Parish.

Picture of Bayou St. John filled with Higgins boats.
Click to expand...
Henry Ford said:
Higgins boats being built

I love the "The Guy Who Relaxes Is Helping The Axis" sign.
Click to expand...
Was just talking to an old timer about this week.

I will probably be heading over to the WW2 Museum today just to see what's going on, they usually have special events planned for D-Day.

GBA
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Just reminds me that anyone who ever visits NOLA really needs to go see this place. As someone who grew up there I am inordinately proud of what has been created there - IMO it is the one mandatory visit one now has to make if they visit. It is that good.

 
Happy D-Day everybody.

Here's to the Americans who kicked ### in Normandy (and in the Pacific, at Saipan and Tinian which was a bloody amphibian landing and month long battle going on at the same time) to save our country and protect freedom.

If you have a WW2 vet, or any vet, in your neighborhood, in you family, or you just know one, say thanks. It was a time we all joined together and bound ourselves for higher ideals. God Bless America.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhsYY7SY55Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0egjzebywg

 
I don't know if anyone has posted this in another thread, but I just saw this yesterday and think this is the perfect place for it.

The Fallen of World War II

It's 18 minutes, but well worth the time.

 
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Officer Pete Malloy said:
This local guy is friend of a friend. http://www.danamartinwriting.com/etroberts.html

tl;dr: Landed on Omaha with a flame thrower. 215 or 272 men in his company were lost that day.

When he went on the Honor Flight a while back and they announced his name and what unit he was in all kinds of heads turned. Like "holy crap...hardly any of those guys made it through"
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Amazing - guys with flamethrowers were specifically targeted, too.

 
Slapdash said:
Thank you to the greatest generation. :thumbup:
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The best thing Tom Brokaw ever did was to popularize this term. It's perfect. I'm very proud to say that my father fought in WWII, on the USS Missouri no less. My Uncle Ralph fought at D-Day, and he's one of the lucky few that's still alive, though he never talks about it.Two of the greatest people I've ever known. They came back to the states after the war and led incredibly full lives. So damn lucky to have people like that as role models.

 
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Officer Pete Malloy said:
This local guy is friend of a friend. http://www.danamartinwriting.com/etroberts.html

tl;dr: Landed on Omaha with a flame thrower. 215 or 272 men in his company were lost that day.

When he went on the Honor Flight a while back and they announced his name and what unit he was in all kinds of heads turned. Like "holy crap...hardly any of those guys made it through"
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As Roberts served out his three-year term with the Army, he took part in another major engagement, the Battle at St. Lo, where the bloodshed continued. And this time, it was his own blood.“I got shot, lost all my buddies and everyone else,” he says of that historic campaign.
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Some photos of the Battle of the Hedgerows and St. Lo. Hard to imagine anyone emerging from that.

http://www.battleofnormandytours.com/photos-st-lo.html

 
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