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“D-Day” Invasion Anniversary is Observed 64 Years Later
Posted at 06:15 PM on Friday, June 6, 2008 by dist7
A Special Message From:
Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary John A. Scocos
The 64th anniversary of Operation Overlord is June 6. Called “D-Day,” or “Day of Days,” the assault on Europe in 1944 took place on the shores of northern France, in what was to be the largest seaborne invasion in history to that time. Over 850,000 American and British troops crossed the English Channel from southern England to the shores of Normandy. The objective to secure Normandy was accomplished through additional land and naval support of other Allied nations. This critical spearhead invasion is today recognized as the turning point towards the Allied victory in WWII.
The Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs, through the Wisconsin Veterans Museum (WVM), preserves the materials and memories of all Wisconsin veterans, including those at D-Day. The collections of the WVM are of immeasurable benefit to the veterans and grateful citizens of this state as we reflect on the sacrifices made in France 64 years ago.
The Wisconsin Veterans Oral History Project, administered by the WVM, currently holds over 1,200 recorded interviews with Wisconsin veterans, including more than a dozen with D-Day participants. These oral histories provide the benefit of hearing the voices of these men and women as they reflect on their experiences.
A paratrooper in the 101st Airborne, Orville Collins of Denmark, Wisconsin landed near Foucarville, France on June 6 and immediately found himself under German fire. In his interview, Collins described his thoughts and feelings as he took part in this momentous event:
"You can hear mortars, machine guns, sporadic, all over. But still you feel alone. And I never was. I suppose it is fear. You got to admit there is fear there. I never had such a dry throat in my life. I often think of that poem, Gunga Din. “It was crawling, and it stunk, but all the drinks I drunk, I am most grateful for that one from Gunga Dun.” It was crawling and it stunk. I know I had my canteen cleaned up in no time.”
Milwaukee native Martin Gutekunst, a member of the Navy’s 2nd Beach Battalion, talked about landing in an LST (Landing Ship, Tank) and his reaction upon hitting Utah Beach:
"And I never gave it much thought as to what was going on. Besides, I was sort of numb by the whole thing. Because it was something we didn’t have any training in this sort of thing, with all these guns going off, the Navy guns and the other Navy firing, and the Germans had the bombs and they also had their 88 mm. And those were something that really gave you a scare, because they had an odd whistle to them.”
Though a significant victory, the D-Day invasion was not without cost. Of the over 400,000 Americans who lost their lives during WWII, more than 2,400 died on June 6, 1944, and today, we reflect on the experiences of that historic day.
It was also in 1944 that the original GI Bill provided for the full cost of a higher education plus a living allowance for our Greatest Generation. While the original GI Bill was allowed to erode since World War II, Wisconsin has been among a handful of states that continued to provide veterans educational assistance through the Wisconsin GI Bill. A new federal bill – the Webb GI Bill – has been proposed to provide federal dollars for full educational benefits for veterans. More than 64 years after the year D-Day occurred, today’s newest Greatest Generation deserves nothing less than the same.
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