D-Day - 73 years ago today...

[PattheCatinSaudi]

My uncle (my mother's sister's husband) landed at Omaha and my first cousin once removed landed with the Rangers and was killed about a week later.

 

[gtowntide]

We cannot forget these brave men and women. All who died there RIP.

 

[GrayTide]

I think I have said this in other threads. My wife's father, who passed away before I met her, was in the 101st Airborne and went into Normandy in a glider. I cannot imagine the bravery these young men possessed at that age.

 

[Tidewater]

This isn't D-Day, but it is related to 1944.
Body recovered from a 1944 crash in northeast India.
1st Lt. Robert Eugene Oxford was MIA in 1944. His body was recently recovered, but not those of his crew mates.
I gather this plane was flying "over the Hump" from China to India and crashed into a mountainside. From talking to USAF guys, that flight was really hazardous. The plane would fly up a valley, higher and higher, hoping they could gain enough altitude to make it over the final mountain pass. If they were too heavy, the narrowness of the valley made it impossible to turn around and return to base. They just flew into the mountainside.

A State Patrol escort will guide a hearse carrying Oxford's casket 50 miles (80 kilometers) south on Interstate 75 from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to the funeral home [in Concord, Georgia]. A funeral will be held Saturday in a school auditorium — the biggest venue in town, Moody said. "It's just a huge historical event for our little town," Moody said. "The phone constantly rings from people wanting information."

Looks like somebody is remembering their WW II veterans.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

My brother in the 8th flew sorties that day in his B-17 that day. He/they, the AAF higherups, didn't believe it would do the job of softening the defenses. Only close support by the fighter-bombers restored faith in air power support...

 

[Tidewater]

My brother in the 8th flew sorties that day in his B-17 that day. He/they, the AAF higherups, didn't believe it would do the job of softening the defenses. Only close support by the fighter-bombers restored faith in air power support...

I wrote a paper on that issue. the ground planners wanted the bombers to fly along the long axis of the beach, maximizing the chances of hitting the beach, but also exposing the aircraft to the German air defenses. The air planners wanted to fly perpendicular to the beach, minimizing the risk to the air crews, but requiring them to be really accurate with their bombs to be effective.
They elevated the issue to Ike and he sided with the air planners, but required them to ensure they delayed dropping their bombs so as to not hit the landing craft in the water. The heavies ended up pounding the land one kilometer inland, but they had limited effect on the German defenses. (See the photo of the A-20s in the OP for an example).