General Discussion

Last edited Sat Jun 7, 2014, 06:30 PM - Edit history (1)

American assault troops injured while storming Omaha

On D-Day, US casualties totaled 1465 dead, 3184 wounded, 1928 missing & 26 captured and 2499 were from the US airborne troops.

http://www.chacha.com/question/how-many-american-soldiers-were-killed-on-the-d%26%2345%3Bday-invasion-of-normandy

More numbers here:

The cost of the Normandy campaign was high for both sides. From D-Day to 21 August, the Allies landed 2,052,299 men in northern France.[13] The Allies suffered 209,672 casualties from 6 June to the end of August, including 36,976 killed, 153,475 wounded, and 19,221 missing. The British, Canadians, and Poles suffered 16,138 killed, 58,594 wounded, and 9,093 missing, for a total of 83,825 casualties.

The Americans suffered 20,838 killed, 94,881 wounded, and 10,128 missing, for a total of 125,847 casualties.[13]

The Allies lost 4,101 aircraft and 16,714 airmen killed or missing.[13] Allied tank losses have been estimated at around 4,000, of which approximately half were fighting in American units.[14]

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Overlord&printable=yes#Allies

TRIGGER WARNING: Numbers and terms don't tell the full story.

A friend whose husband was a paratrooper who was part of D-Day, told me the horrific details of what that day was like. Some stuck with me.

He told her how some of the soldiers, seeing their comrades jump out of the planes being shredded by German gunfire or blown to pieces, dead before they hit the ground, didn't want to jump into that meat grinder.

That gives a meaning to the euphemistic acronym, MIA or missing in action. They were not missing in terms of having left or being lost from their crew mates. Their bodies were missing just like a tiny bird blown to bits by a gunshot blast. They were so vulnerable, and they were some mother's child.

Those who were not there or not in warfare, nor have family to would tell them the facts, as they seldom talk about it, have a hard time grasping just how hideous this all was.

This man was assigned the task of pushing those who resisted jumping out of the plane before jumping himself. He felt guilty, as some of them were blown apart soon afterwards.

He also said how he shot a man in a German uniform who approached his guard post at night and didn't respond to his calls for him to identify himself or say what he wanted.

I'm guessing the man did not speak English or was somehow too upset or afraid to speak. He turned out to be an unarmed, but tall young boy and he cried when he saw what he'd done, but had no time to grieve anything.

The guilt, the horror and the fear from war stole his sleep and turned him into an angry alcoholic who spent many months over the years in VA hospitals before he died. There is a lot of unknown suffering behind all of these wars.

One report I read last night was of a veteran at yesterday's ceremony who wouldn't be dissuaded from 'giving Obama a piece of his mind.' Later he was caught by the same reporter who titled his entry that way and he asked him what did he say to the President. He said he 'thanked Obama for keeping us out of war.'

IMO, he fully knew why.

Thanks, Obama.