We Remember

CLAY NATIONAL GUARD CENTER, Marietta, GA June 06, 2015, By PV2 Alexander Davidson – Today We Remember D-Day.

Exactly what is D-Day? In military speak, D-Day is the day on which a military combat attack or operation is to be initiated. But today when we say or think of D-Day, we go to this day, June 6 1944; 71 years ago when over 160,000 Allied troops landed over a 50-mile stretch of coastal beach in Normandy, France to begin retaking Europe from Nazi Germany. Codename Operation Neptune was the cross-Channel crossing phase and landing operations phase of Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of France. The planning and successful execution of D-Day was a huge logistical effort involving great secrecy and around 6,000 ships and 13,000 aircraft to land the American forces at their assigned beaches Utah and Omaha, the British at Sword and Gold Beaches, and the Canadians at Juno Beach. It was not easy. Adolph Hitler’s crack troops were well prepared to repel invaders. Many brave Soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice and lost their lives on D-Day. Over 9,000 Allied troops were killed or wounded with the majority of the casualties taking place overcoming heavy German resistance on Juno and Omaha Beaches. The Allies prevailed and at the end of the day more than 100,000 Soldiers were starting the trek inland to defeat the Axis grip on Europe. So this morning, the Soldiers of the Georgia State Defense Force took a moment to observe a minute of silence to remember those that were lost and survived D-Day, June 6, 1944.

GSDF Soldiers observe a moment of silence in memory of D-Day.