Eighty years ago – June 6, 1944,the largest amphibious invasion in military history occurred on the beaches of Normandy, France.
The operation, odename OVERLORD, delivered five naval assault divisions to the beaches of Normandy, France. The beaches were given the code names UTAH, OMAHA, GOLD, JUNO, and SWORD. The invasion force included 7,000 ships and landing craft manned by over 195,000 naval personnel from eight allied countries.
Almost 133,000 troops from the United States, the British Commonwealth, and their allies, landed on D-Day. Casualties from these countries during the landing numbered 10,300.
By June 30, over 850,000 men, 148,000 vehicles, and 570,000 tons of supplies had landed on the Normandy shores.
Less than a year later, May 7, 1945, German General Alfred Jodl signed an unconditional surrender at Reims, France.
General Dwight Eisenhower “Order of the Day” – statement as issued to the soldiers, sailors and airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force on June 6, 1944.
On “Real News with Rick Outzen” today, my guests will be historians Dr. Steph Hinnershitz, a fellow with National World War II Museum and UWF history professor Dr. George Ellenberg. We will discuss D-Day.
- Dr. Steph Hinnershitz is an Assistant Professor of Security and Military Studies at the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama where she teaches courses in national security, political affairs and strategy, and contemporary and emerging war fighting.
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- From 2021 until 2023, Hinnershitz was Senior Historian with the Institute for the Study of War and Democracy at The National WWII Museum in New Orleans where she worked on a number of public history initiatives, including the recently-opened Liberation Pavilion. She also serves as a non-resident fellow for The Museum.
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Dr. George Ellenberg has been recognized by students and his peers for his dedication to teaching excellence. He has received UWF’s Distinguished Teaching Award, as well as a State University System of Florida Teaching Incentive Program Award.
- Ellenberg attended the Institute for Management and Leadership in Education seminar at Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2015. In 2007, he was named an American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow.
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- He was also selected as a participant in the Summer Seminar in Military History West Point, New York. Additionally, Ellenberg has taught a graduate-level course in strategy and warfare at the Naval War College in its distance education program.
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I found this on the Eisenhower Library website. This is the statement he would have issued if the invasion failed:
Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based upon the best information available. The troops, the air, and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone.