Commentary A Prayer for Overlord When Allied troops invaded Normandy on June 6, 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt led the nation in prayer. "Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity." Operation Overlord -- the invasion of Normandy -- was the supreme effort in Europe. More than a million men, more than 5,000 ships, more than 12,000 aircraft were necessary to establish the foothold in Normandy. From the vantage point of 50 years, the success of the Normandy invasion looks inevitable. It was not. Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, the German commander in Normandy, wanted to stop the Allies at the low-water mark. He envisioned an impassable zone 100 meters deep all along the English Channel coast. By mid-May 1944, the Germans had planted more than 4 million mines. In addition, the Germans erected more than 500,000 obstacles on the beaches and in likely airborne drop zones and glider landing fields. But Rommel did not depend on this simple armored belt. Adolf Hitler issued a preinvasion alert for forces in France. The number of German divisions in France rose from 46 to 55. Their quality rose as well. "Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith. They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph." The Allied leaders of the Normandy invasion were well aware of the risks. U.S. Army Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, the supreme Allied commander, was tailor-made for waging coalition warfare, according to many historians. When Roosevelt named Eisenhower Overlord commander in December 1943, planning for the operation was already well under way. Original plans called for a three-division assault, the numbers being limited by a critical shortage of landing craft. Eisenhower immediately pushed for a five-division assault, coupled with a three- division airborne landing. He carried the day. "Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom." Just after midnight June 6, thousands of British and American airborne troops landed in Normandy. However, weather, German flak and inexperience combined to disperse the drops. Some troops landed as many as 35 miles from their drop zones. Still, no matter where they were and no matter how few they were, the paratroopers contributed to a sense of growing confusion in the German high command. American troops landed on Omaha and Utah beaches at 6:30 a.m. On Utah, fortune smiled. A strong current off the beach swept the first wave 2,000 yards south of their intended beachhead. The landing craft touched down on one of the weakest defended sections in Normandy. On Omaha, infantrymen ran into a cyclone. German strongpoints in and atop the 200-foot bluffs behind the beach were hardly touched by the preinvasion bombardment. German artillery hit many landing craft well before they reached the beach. When other craft reached the beach and lowered ramps, well-aimed machine-gun fire cut down GIs. Soon, dead and wounded GIs littered the beach. Some soldiers reached the comparative safety of a sea wall, where many remained pinned down. Subsequent landing waves faced the same onslaught as the first, and soon the beach was in chaos. First U.S. Army Commander Lt. Gen. Omar Bradley received reports from Omaha and contemplated diverting American troops to other beaches. But even as he struggled with the decision, the courage and plain moxie of the American soldier decided the battle. By ones, twos and in small squads, GIs climbed the bluffs, outflanking and eliminating German positions. On the beach, inspirational leadership from senior officers got the soldiers moving. By noon, troops began moving inland, and while soldiers still died on the beach and the handhold on shore was tenuous, the crisis was past. The price: more than 2,000 dead. "And for us at home -- fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters and brothers of brave men overseas, whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them -- help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice. ..." "... Give us strength, too -- strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces." On June 6, 1944, Americans across the country paused in their work to pray for service members invading France. Their work made the invasion possible. In 1939, the United States had the 17th largest army in the world, behind even Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. But during World War II, American production workers -- including women in great numbers for the first time -- turned out 296,429 warplanes, 102,351 tanks, 372,431 artillery pieces, 2,455,964 trucks, 87,620 warships, 5,425 cargo ships, 5,822,000 tons of bombs, more than 20 million small arms and around 44 billion rounds of ammunition. The United States delivered the tools of war. Those praying for the safety of those in Normandy won the production battle of the Home Front. "With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace -- a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil." The men and women who served during World War II are old now. Tempered by the Depression and steeled in the fires of World War II, these men and women did not come home to peace. Instead, they had further work to do. They helped rebuild the shattered economies of Europe and Japan. They confronted Soviet aggression, and their sons and daughters fought in Korea and Vietnam. Their generation did have, as Franklin Roosevelt said, a "rendezvous with destiny." And the world became a better place due to their sacrifices. -- By Jim Garamone American Forces Information Service -- // \\ // \\ Air Force News Agency | | Kelly Air Force Base, Texas, USA \\ {*} // bergman@afpan.pa.af.mil \ CMSgt / ___________________ /____________________________________ \ Mike / \ Bergman / \ /