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| - by 70.145.169.91 Image:19580.jpg Registered: 2008-02-07 Posts: 141 Email Website Today marks the 64th anniversary of the heroic invasion of Nazi controlled Europe.Only those of us old enough, and still alive, to remember the invasion of Normandy on that bloody day in 1943, can appreciate what the "Mommy" generation has done to our military. In one day we lost 1465 dead, 3184 wounded, 1928 missing and 26 captured. Of the total US figure, 2499 casualties were from the US airborne troops (238 of them being deaths). The casualties at Utah Beach were relatively light: 197, including 60 missing. However, the US 1st and 29th Divisions together suffered around 2000 casualties at Omaha Beach. Over 425,000 Allied and German troops were killed, wounded or went missing during the Battle of Normandy. This figure includes over 209,000 Allied casualties, with nearly 37,000 dead amongst the ground forces and a further 16,714 deaths amongst the Allied air forces. Of the Allied casualties, 83,045 were from 21st Army Group (British, Canadian and Polish ground forces), 125,847 from the US ground forces. The losses of the German forces during the Battle of Normandy can only be estimated. Roughly 200,000 German troops were killed or wounded. The Allies also captured 200,000 prisoners of war (not included in the 425,000 total, above). During the fighting around the Falaise Pocket (August 1944) alone, the Germans suffered losses of around 90,000, including prisoners. source: Wikapedia The only media available in those days, newspapers and radio, did not scream headlines of the number killed and wounded. They led with story lines about the begining of the liberation of Europe! During the war, casualty statistics were not front page headlines, because this was a popular war. Yes, we invaded a country, and destroyed it's infastucture, killed many civilians with our bombs, but we were hailed as heros. We invaded Normandy during unfavorable weather, when many landing crafts floundered, and all were sea sick. Most soldiers in the first wave were killed on the way in. But the men who lost life and limb were backed by the home "forces"! The media didn't highlight the "colateral damage"or the destruction of infastucture. This was a war with a Democrat President and both houses of Congress controlled by Democrats. Japan had attacked us at Pearl Harbor two years before, but the military emphasis was on invading Europe. Only speculation can determine why we lost over 400,000 men defeating an enemy that had not attacked us __NOEDITSECTION__ From The Opinion Wiki, a Wikia wiki. From The Opinion Wiki, a Wikia wiki.
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