Tag: normandy

The Giants of June 6, 1944

By Chris Gibbons

(Excerpt from his book, Soldiers, Space, and Stories of Life. This story was originally published in the June 4, 2004, Philadelphia Daily News)

“They were chosen by fate and circumstance to represent us on the beaches that day.” (Filmmaker and historian Charles Guggenheim)

On June 5, 1944, Dwight Eisenhower casually walked among the young paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division who were preparing themselves for the D-Day invasion.  He had just given the order for the invasion to commence early the next morning and the soldiers, with their blackened faces, rifles, and assorted equipment, momentarily stopped their preparations to talk to the General.  The men were understandably apprehensive, and Ike tried to calm their fears.  He told them not to worry, and that he had confidence in them.  “We ain’t worried, General,” a young sergeant said. “It’s the Germans that ought to be worrying now.”

Eisenhower watched all of the big C-47 transport planes carrying the paratroopers take off that night.  He often affectionately referred to the soldiers as “my boys”, and it was feared that the 101st would suffer 70 percent casualties.  As the last plane left the runway, the General had tears in his eyes.

Although the Allies had meticulously planned every detail of the operation, the success of the invasion was by no means a given.  Eisenhower and the other Allied generals knew that all of the planning in the world couldn’t compensate for the courage and improvisation necessary for the invasion to succeed.  Ultimately, it would all come down to the performance of the various combat units and their soldiers that would decide the outcome. 

The individual acts of bravery on that day were astonishing.  Despite witnessing several soldiers die in failed attempts to cut through barbed wire that had his platoon trapped on the beach, Sergeant Philip Streczyk of the 16th RCT ran through a barrage of German machine-gun fire to cut the wire, and then waved the rest of his troops through.  Paratrooper Sgt. John Ray landed in the middle of a Ste.-Mere-Eglise town-square full of alarmed German soldiers.  Shot in the stomach and dying, Ray still managed to shoot a German soldier who was about to kill two other American paratroopers.  Technician John Pinder, shot twice and terribly weakened by loss of blood, continually waded back into the surf to retrieve vital communication equipment.  While struggling back out of the water, Pinder was shot for a third time and killed, but not before he had retrieved a workable radio.

Various allied combat units also performed brilliantly that day.  The textbook capture of the critical Orne River Bridge by British paratroopers is still marveled at to this day by military strategists.   The destruction of the German gun batteries at Brecourt Manor by the outnumbered 101st Division’s Easy Company was immortalized in the HBO miniseries, “Band of Brothers.” And the sacrifice of that day was epitomized by the 29th Division at Omaha Beach.  Of the 35 soldiers in the 29th from little Bedford, VA, 19 died in the first 15 minutes and two more died later that day.  Fittingly, Bedford is the site of the National D-Day Memorial. 

These are just a few of the heroic individuals and military units that distinguished themselves that day.  To list them all would surely require every page of this newspaper.

The grave of Charles “Dunnie” Keenan, Roman Catholic High School – Class of 1943, at the Normandy-American Cemetery

It’s so easy to forget and take for granted what happened on the Normandy coast 80 years ago.  Had the invasion failed, the resulting consequences to civilization would have been appalling.  Accordingly, most historians regard D-Day as the most important day of the 20th century. However, its true meaning to each subsequent generation of Americans has been gradually diminished by the passage of time.  Sadly, this 80th anniversary reveals the steadily thinning ranks of “Eisenhower’s boys.”  So, if you happen to know a veteran of the D-Day invasion, take a moment while you have the opportunity to thank them for what they did.  They represented us on the beaches that day, and all of us should feel privileged to have known them and lived among them.  We are obligated to preserve and honor their legacy for all future generations to come.

AFTERWORD

The inspiration for this D-Day essay was Steven Spielberg’s epic war film, “Saving Private Ryan”, and I wrote it shortly after seeing the movie for a second time on HBO.  It is still the most intense experience I’ve ever had while watching a movie in a theater.  I was so moved by the film that shortly after seeing it for the first time, I wrote a letter to the Philadelphia Daily News that was published in the August 8, 1998 edition.  Parts of the letter follow, and it still sums up my feelings quite well: “I was unprepared for the intense and realistic depiction of the Normandy invasion in “Saving Private Ryan.”  Throughout the first 25 minutes of the movie, my fists were clenched so tightly that my palms still have fingernail impressions.  How, I thought, could those American soldiers face such a murderous barrage of machine-gun and mortar fire and continue to assault that beach?  What was it that kept them moving forward?  Fighting in a war thousands of miles from home, a generation of Americans was tasked with helping to liberate Nazi-occupied Europe.  A madman, whose crimes against humanity were not yet fully known, had to be stopped.  How well these men fought would determine our country’s fate.  I wondered if they realized that that they were not only fighting for those alive then, but also for those yet to be born? I shudder to think of what might have been if Hitler had pushed the Allies back into the sea that day and the war had been delayed long enough for the Nazis to develop atomic weapons before the United States did.  Most of us would not be here today.”

No Better Place to Die: Lost Among The Many Legends of D-Day – The Battle for the Bridge at La Fiere – by Chris Gibbons

(Originally published in the Philadelphia Inquirer)

The little bridge sits in a quiet, bucolic area of western France, about 2 miles west of the town of Ste. Mere-Eglise. It spans the scenic Merderet River, and thousands of tourists flock to the area every year because of its rich history and beautiful scenery.   Right next to the bridge is the charming “a la Bataille de La Fiere Bed and Breakfast”, which was built in 1180 and originally used as a grain mill by Viking settlers.  For those looking for a quiet vacation in a beautiful, historic setting, this area is the perfect destination. But when the tourists are told the story of what happened on this little bridge over 70 years ago, and how significant that event was in WW II history, many are stunned.  Those from the U.S. will often beam with pride or are moved to tears.

Although it is described by renowned military historian S.L.A. Marshall as “the bloodiest small unit struggle in the history of American arms”, the heroic saga of the battle for the bridge at La Fiere from June 6 to June 9 in 1944 has now become lost among the numerous legendary stories of D-Day.  But it was at this bridge that a small group of lightly armed U.S. 82nd Airborne paratroopers waged one of fiercest fights in the annals of U.S. military history, and in doing so, likely saved the lives of thousands of U.S. soldiers who landed at Utah beach on D-Day.  The bridge was one of only two in the Utah beach landing area that would enable German armor to cross the river.  If the Germans could get their tanks and infantry to the beach, they could wipe out the U.S. forces on Utah beach.  The 82nd was given the difficult task of seizing and holding the bridge.

Led by Lieutenant John Dolan, the paratroopers assaulted and eventually took control of the bridge in the late morning hours of D-Day.  They set mines and pulled a disabled truck onto the bridge to help block the inevitable German counterattacks.  The fields surrounding the causeway (raised road) that led to the bridge had been flooded by the Germans prior to the invasion, and the men could see the parachutes and backpacks of dozens of drowned paratroopers floating in the water.  The sight likely served as a reminder to them of what was at stake, stiffening their resolve.

The Germans still controlled the high ground of the western causeway leading to the bridge, and late in the afternoon of June 6, they sent three tanks, followed by infantry, rumbling across in their first attempt to seize it.  Private Lenold Peterson stood with his bazooka, bravely exposing himself to the enemy machine gun fire.  He took out the two lead tanks, and forced the third to retreat back with the German infantry.

The following morning, the Germans launched an even heavier assault against the paratroopers.  The brutal, close-quarters combat that followed reduced Dolan’s force to only 14 men, but the paratroopers held.   The fighting was so bloody, that the Germans asked for a truce so that they could retrieve their wounded.  When Dolan’s men asked if they should fall back, he told them that they were staying. “I don’t know a better place to die”, he said, and his words lifted the morale of the decimated platoon.

On June 8, Dolan’s men were finally reinforced by the 507th Paratroop Infantry Regiment. U.S. tanks from the 4th Infantry Division had also arrived but couldn’t cross the bridge until the Germans had been cleared from the western end.  The paratroopers attacked across the bridge and down the causeway in a suicidal frontal assault.  The first wave of men was cut down, and those following behind dropped to the ground, paralyzed with fear.  Lieutenant Bruce Hooker, shot in both legs, turned to his men as he lay on the ground and tried to urge them on.  “Come on…get up!”, he shouted.  As the dead and wounded piled up, the chaos on the bridge mounted.

Just when the battle seemed lost, a group of some 90 men led by Captain R.D. Rae charged across the bridge.  Again, many were cut down, but this time, many more kept moving forward. They ran down the causeway and started taking out the enemy positions.  The tank commanders then seized the opportunity and streamed across the bridge, destroying the remaining German opposition.  The Americans had finally secured the bridge, but at a terrible cost: 60 paratroopers were dead and 529 wounded.

Tom Hanks is Executive Producer for a film project titled “No Better Place to Die”.  It is being written and directed by actor and former Marine, Dale Dye. Although the film project has faced a number of hurdles, Dye still hopes that it will soon resume full production and finally reveal to the general public the gallant story of the U.S. paratroopers at the La Fiere Bridge.

Take a moment today to remember the American paratroopers who courageously decided during a pivotal battle that began on D-Day that there was no better place to die than the bridge at La Fiere.