If The Normandy Landings Happened Today..

[SteyrAUG]

D-Day Invasion, Outcome of War in Doubt

Tragic French Offensive Stalled on Beaches (Normandy, France - June 6, 1944) - Pandemonium, shock and sheer terror predominate today's events in Europe.

In an as yet unfolding apparent fiasco, Supreme Allied Commander, Gen. Dwight David Eisenhower's troops got a rude awakening this morning at Omaha Beach here in Normandy.

Due to insufficient planning and lack of a workable entrance strategy, soldiers of the 1st and 29th Infantry as well as Army Rangers are now bogged down and sustaining heavy casualties inflicted on them by dug-in insurgent positions located 170 feet above them on cliffs overlooking the beaches which now resemble blood soaked killing fields at the time of this mid-morning filing.

Bodies, parts of bodies, and blood are the order of the day here, the screams of the dying and the stillness of the dead mingle in testament to this terrible event.

Morale can only be described as extremely poor--in some companies all the officers have been either killed or incapacitated, leaving only poorly trained privates to fend for themselves.

Things appear to be going so poorly that Lt. General Omar Bradley has been rumored to be considering breaking off the attack entirely. As we go to press embattled U.S. president Franklin Delano Roosevelt's
spokesman has not made himself available for comment at all, fueling fires that something has gone disastrously awry.

The government at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is in a distinct lock-down mode and the Vice President's location is presently and officially undisclosed.

Whether the second in command should have gone into hiding during such a crisis will have to be answered at some future time, but many agree it does not send a good signal.

Miles behind the beaches and adding to the chaos, U.S. Naval gunships have inflicted many friendly fire casualties, as huge high explosive projectiles rain death and destruction on unsuspecting Allied positions.
The lack of training of Naval gunners has been called into question numerous times before and today's demonstration seems to underlie those concerns.

At Utah Beach the situation is also grim, elements of the 82nd and 101st Airborne seemed to be in disarray as they missed their primary drop zones behind the area believed to comprise the militant's front lines. Errant paratroopers have been hung up in trees, breaking arms and legs, rendering themselves easy targets for those defending this territory.

On the beach front itself the landing area was missed, catapulting U.S. forces nearly 2,000 yards South of the intended coordinates, thus placing them that much farther away from the German insurgents and unable to direct covering fire or materially add to the operation.

Casualties at day's end are nothing short of horrific; at least 8,000 and possibly as many as 9,000 were wounded in the haphazardly coordinated attack, which seems to have no unifying purpose or intent. Of this number at least 3,000 have been estimated as having been killed, making June 6th by far, the worst single day of the war which has dragged on now--with no exit strategy in sight--as the American economy still struggles to recover from Herbert Hoover's depression and its 25% unemployment.

Military spending has skyrocketed the national debt into uncharted regions, lending another cause for concern. When and if the current hostilities finally end it may take generations for the huge debt to be repaid.

On the planning end of things, experts wonder privately if enough troops were committed to the initial offensive and whether at least another 100,000 troops should have been added to the force structure before such an audacious undertaking. Communication problems also have made their presence felt making that an area for further investigation by the appropriate governmental committees.

On the home front, questions and concern have been voiced. A telephone poll has shown dwindling support for the wheel-chair bound Commander In Chief, which might indicate a further erosion of support for his now three year-old global war.

Of course, the President's precarious health has always been a question. He has just recently recovered from pneumonia and speculation persists whether or not he has sufficient stamina to properly sustain the war effort. This remains a topic of furious discussion among those questioning his competency.

Today's costly and chaotic landing compounds the President's already large credibility problem.

More darkly, this phase of the war, commencing less than six months before the next general election, gives some the impression that Roosevelt may be using this offensive simply as a means to secure re-election in the fall.

Underlining the less than effective Allied attack, German casualties--most of them innocent and hapless conscripts--seem not to be as severe as would be imagined. A German minister who requested anonymity stated categorically that "the aggressors were being driven back into the sea amidst heavy casualties, the German people seek no wider war."

"The news couldn't be better," Adolph Hitler said when he was first informed of the D-Day assault earlier this afternoon.

"As long as they were in Britain we couldn't get at them. Now we have them where we can destroy them."

German minister Goebbels had been told of the Allied airborne landings at 0400 hours.

"Thank God, at last," he said. "This is the final round."



I wonder if Michael Moore and Leni Riefenstahl would have been able to collaborate on a documentary...

[SteyrAUG]

Nobody is gonna touch it huh?

[thebigj8]

I'll touch it. First of all, I agree with what I assume you're trying to illustrate. The role of the media has greatly changed in the last 60 years. Is that really a bad thing though?

There's a reason we have a free media in here in the good ole' US of A. Our three branches of government were designed with checks and balances to ensure (theoretically) no one branch could muster the power to rule us completely. The same is true of the media. Whether you side with the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Al Franken or somewhere in the middle (like most Americans- to one degree or another), you have the right to be informed and thus the ability to make better educated decisions.

Are you asserting that the waning support for the Iraq situation is the fault of the media? Are you also asserting that Bush (43) and FDR are comparable? Now I respect our Commander in Chief, but seriously.

I liked your post, but I'm not sure I grasped exactly what you were saying. Could you maybe clarify if I am off-base?

Respectfully,

[Webmaster]

Richard, I totally agree that this is how the modern press would cover the Normandy landing. Very sad that for the most part, we don't have the backbone today to recognize evil for what it is, and confront it. Thank God we have the right people at the right time in our history that do. FDR saw the Nazis for the evil that they were, Ronald Reagan saw it in the former Soviet Union, and GW Bush sees it in our enemies today.

[Jeff Burger]

AMEN !!!!!!

Jeff

[SteyrAUG]

I liked your post, but I'm not sure I grasped exactly what you were saying. Could you maybe clarify if I am off-base?

Respectfully,

I'm saying that the media and much of the population is completely defeatist. If the World War II were conducted today all we would here about is how we are fighting on behalf of the Jews and about the attrocities of the Dresden bombing.

[nosh276]

I disagree. If you look at the case in Iraq the media first started coverage as searching for WMD. When none were found they didn't turn against Bush they changed it to Operation Iraqi freedom. The media isn't controversial unless the public wants them to be. Right now the public is too divided for the media to do anything but "sit the fence". They still "lean", however, to the side where the power is. Some do this more than others.

[thebigj8]

Possibly, but it's a different world. I'm a small-town nothing reporter and I interviewed a guy last week who fought in both the D-day invasion and later in the battle of the bulge last week. He said (speaking of today's fighting men and women) "They got a hell of a row to hoe. Back then (WWII) we knew who our enemy was. They wore a uniform. These guys don't have any idea who might throw a grenade in their jeep for one day to the next."

Back then the evil was crystal clear. It was the Nazis and imperial Japan. They came at us. We tried not to fight. They made us and we made them regret it.

The difference being there was no question of motive. No Haliburton. No oil. No "you tried to kill my Dad."

I'm not saying what we're doing is wrong. It's very much right (if it works) but Al Qeada attacked us, not Saddam's army. He was a piece of crap, but was he the world's biggest piece of crap? That's one of the big questions.

Another is "will it work?" When we defeated the Germans and the Japanese, we were able to reconstruct the countries (well, half of Germany) We were undoubted the good guys. Even though they hated us enough to kill a half million American fighting men, they were also bright enough to let us help them rebuild. And we rebuilt both into world powers. They both had strong work ethics and pride. Without petro, what the hell does the Mid-East export? Nothing!

I'll close by saying I'm proud to be an American, and I'm damn proud of the men and women who VOLUNTEER to protect my family. But from a leadership prospective, there is no way Bush's decision to go to war with Iraq (a big sandbox on top of oil) is anywhere as close to as noble as that of FDR taking on the Axis (Imperial Japan, who wouldn't give up and the world's military superpower at the time in Germany)

Christ man, if Hitler wasn't such a jack-ass as to open a two front war, we would have lost a lot more than 500,000.

So, I invite you to dispute me. It's a free country and I think we all know the real reason why. God bless America.

[riku]

Nobody is gonna touch it huh?

Why should I? I have seen the way you argument, I don't agree, and I have life elsewhere; have no interest to get involved some endless political debate.

With respect,
Riku Ylönen

[SRK85]

Well yeah now americans would say we lost to many men. Ever since Vietnam the American people can't even withstand 800 deaths, thats nothing in war standards. I dont want to sound mean but yeah considering how we won the war in Iraq(which I am against but I still support our troops my prayers are with them) 800 doesnt mean anything.

[Jeff Burger]

800 may sound good compared to the losses of WWII but every one is everything to the family that lost them.

I wished they had gotten Saddam the first time.
Why he wasnt at least brought up on war crimes then is beyond me.

Jeff

[tsurashi]

800 may sound good compared to the losses of WWII but every one is everything to the family that lost them.

I wished they had gotten Saddam the first time.
Why he wasnt at least brought up on war crimes then is beyond me.

Jeff

Two excellent points.
It's humbling when you see the parents and children of the fallen troops.
It makes the heart heavy.

[SRK85]

I thought if we got Saddam in the first gulf war all the Arab countries would be mad at the USA. Plus it would destablize the whole entire mid east. And well one person means somthing to their whole entire family.

[lightninrod]

We didn't get him the first time because the United Nations was involved and in addition, there wasn't enough popular support to get involved that far. At least that's how it seemed to me.
I know that I, for one, am tired of hearing about how many of our tax dollars go to support the UN without us getting anything in return but alot of hassle. The UN wouldn't even be able to support itself without us, yet almost every decision they make is contrary to US interests. If the UN had any backbone at all, it would have enforced it's resolutions on Saddam long ago and we wouldn't be having to deal with Iraq like we are now.
We beat him and let him stay in power under the condition that he follow the UN resolutions. By not coming down on him for his violations, the UN showed that it doesn't have the guts to enforce its own edicts, and it cleared the way for any other dictator who wanted to thumb his nose at the world.
I am glad we're there now, and I'm glad that Bush has the guts to say "enough is enough". I don't care if there were WMD's there or not. It was time to show the world that the US means business, and set an example of what's going to happen to any other country who directly or indirectly threatens our welfare. Go Bush! He has his flaws, but I'll take him over Clinton or Gore any day.

Justin Mears

[SRK85]

I loved clinton he was such a great preisdent.

[lightninrod]

I despise Clinton. I won't go into why I despise him, but with nicknames like "Slick Willie" and the way the press likened him to a weasil, no explanation should be necessary.

Justin Mears