June 6th D-Day

June 6th D-Day Dwight D. Eisenhower once described the Allied forces assembled in Britain for the D-Day invasion of northern France as "a great human spring, coiled for the moment when its energy would be released and it would vault the English Channel in the greatest amphibious assault ever attempted." In the early hours of June 6, 1944, that tense, coiled spring was finally released as the Allied fleet reached Normandy. Hundreds of planes dropped paratroopers behind German lines to capture bridges and railroad tracks. At dawn huge battleship guns began blasting away at German coastal fortifications. Amphibious craft landed on five beaches, and thousands of American, British, Canadian, and French troops fought their way ashore. U.S. forces landing at Omaha Beach struggled with high seas, fog, mines, and enemy fire that poured down from high bluffs. Many soldiers were shot getting off their boats and died in the surf. Those who reached the sand met a wall of bullets. One commander told his men that only two types of people would stay on the beach—those dead and those going to die—so they'd better push forward. In some units on Omaha, 90 percent of the troops were killed or wounded. But the assault force managed to cross the beach and drive the Germans inland. At Utah Beach, the other U.S. landing zone, the first wave of troops found themselves 2,000 yards south of where they were supposed to be. It was a lucky miss since the area was not as heavily defended as the original target. Quick-thinking commanders ordered troops to follow the first wave ashore to secure a beachhead. Before D-Day was over, 155,000 Allied troops were ashore. Months of hard fighting lay ahead. But the Allies had at last established a toehold in northern Europe.   Carl Ray Louk "FRIENDSHIP NEVER ENDS" SG-1996 "LET LOVE LEAD THE WAY" SG-2000 "THE PHOENIX SHALL RISE" SD "EVEN A MAN WHO IS PURE IN HEART AND SAYS HIS PRAYERS BY NIGHT, MAY BECOME A WOLF WHEN THE WOLFBANE BLOOMS AND THE AUTUMN MOON IS BRIGHT." LT-1941 "FLESH OF MY FLESH; BLOOD OF MY BLOOD; KIN OF MY KIN WHEN SAY COME TO YOU, YOU SHALL CROSS LAND OR SEA TO DO MY BIDDING!" CVTD-1895 "FROM HELL'S HEART I STAB AT THEE, FOR HATE SAKE I SPIT MY LAST BREATH AT THEE" CA-1895  "I HAVE BEEN, AND ALWAYS SHALL BE YOUR FRIEND" Spock  "TRICK OR TREAT, TRICK OR TREAT CANDY IS DANDY BUT MURDER, OH MURDER, IS SO SWEET" CRL-2003  "EYE OF NEWT, AND TOE OF FROG, WOOL OF BAT, AND TONGUE OF DOG ADDER'S FORK, BLIND-WORM'S STING, LIZARD'S LEG, AND OWLET'S WING. FOR A CHARM OF POWERFUL TROUBLE, LIKE A HELL-BROTH BOIL AND BABBLE. DOUBLE, DOUBLE, TOIL AND TROUBLE, FIRE BURN, AND CALDRON BUBBLE" WS Facebook: www.facebook.com/CarlRayLouk Twitter: www.twitter.com/CarlRayLouk MySpace: www.myspace.com/carlraylouk Yahoo Group: Yahoo! Groups : LouksHauntedGraveyardhttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/LouksHauntedGraveyard/ Yahoo Group: Yahoo! Groups : TheWorldAccordingtoCarlRayLouk http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheWorldAccordingtoCarlRayLouk/