It's important to remember that the Marines in the Pacific made similar landings on multiple occasions in both the South and North Pacific, each time facing fearful odds for the individual Marine to just make it out of the boat and off the beach intact... On at least one landing (and probably two others) the assembled ships and resources eclipsed that of the Normandy landing...
All that said..., Normandy is the remembered "D-day" and understandably so given the stakes at the time... Normandy (in my mind at least), should be remembered primarily because of the guts and fortitude shown by individual soldiers, who having become disoriented and disorganized after having their friends and teammates slaughtered around them (at Omaha Beach and during the Paratrooper jumps the previous night), overcame extraordinary "friction" (the confusion attendant to the violence of combat operations) and strong enemy resistance, bucked the odds, reorganized themselves into small functioning units thru sheer strength of character and "closed with and destroyed the enemy" in spite of the Germans being in prepared defensive positions that "by the book" requires a minimum of a three to one advantage in manpower to overcome (rarely, if ever, was that the case of the Paratrooper engagements and the Omaha Beach soldiers immediately after the initial landing)...
In the case of both the Paratrooper jumps and the Omaha beach landing nearly everything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong, from the Paratroopers being dropped miles away from their intended landing zones and having entire platoons decimated before they ever reached the ground; to the bombing preparations being completely off target at Omaha, in some cases simply creating drowning holes rather than breaching any of the German prepared defenses, in others, dropping their bombs too far inland... to entire units trained with critical skills being wiped out...
Actual "close air support" was non-existent and early Preparatory Naval Gunfire was relatively ineffective; not until several Destroyer Captains grasped the situation and in some cases risked their careers by moving closer to the Beach than their orders indicated, providing much needed close in support, which was key to the lock to the door being finally turned..., allowing the landing force to kick it open (at Great risk) thus ensuring that the landing would be a success.
Eisenhowers Message (History Channel montage):
Air Drop recreated (Band of Brothers);
Here's the Navy's view of what went on at Omaha:
All those who served deserve our undying gratitude but especially those who were at the "point of the sword" who went willingly, suffered, and often died because they understood the consequences of not going...
Thumbnail Timeline of the Operation:
theddaystory.com
From Band of Brothers:
All that said..., Normandy is the remembered "D-day" and understandably so given the stakes at the time... Normandy (in my mind at least), should be remembered primarily because of the guts and fortitude shown by individual soldiers, who having become disoriented and disorganized after having their friends and teammates slaughtered around them (at Omaha Beach and during the Paratrooper jumps the previous night), overcame extraordinary "friction" (the confusion attendant to the violence of combat operations) and strong enemy resistance, bucked the odds, reorganized themselves into small functioning units thru sheer strength of character and "closed with and destroyed the enemy" in spite of the Germans being in prepared defensive positions that "by the book" requires a minimum of a three to one advantage in manpower to overcome (rarely, if ever, was that the case of the Paratrooper engagements and the Omaha Beach soldiers immediately after the initial landing)...
In the case of both the Paratrooper jumps and the Omaha beach landing nearly everything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong, from the Paratroopers being dropped miles away from their intended landing zones and having entire platoons decimated before they ever reached the ground; to the bombing preparations being completely off target at Omaha, in some cases simply creating drowning holes rather than breaching any of the German prepared defenses, in others, dropping their bombs too far inland... to entire units trained with critical skills being wiped out...
Actual "close air support" was non-existent and early Preparatory Naval Gunfire was relatively ineffective; not until several Destroyer Captains grasped the situation and in some cases risked their careers by moving closer to the Beach than their orders indicated, providing much needed close in support, which was key to the lock to the door being finally turned..., allowing the landing force to kick it open (at Great risk) thus ensuring that the landing would be a success.
Eisenhowers Message (History Channel montage):
Air Drop recreated (Band of Brothers);
Here's the Navy's view of what went on at Omaha:
All those who served deserve our undying gratitude but especially those who were at the "point of the sword" who went willingly, suffered, and often died because they understood the consequences of not going...
Thumbnail Timeline of the Operation:
Omaha Beach
Lead Allied assault forces: 1st US Infantry Division, troops from 29th US Infantry Division, US Rangers.
theddaystory.com
From Band of Brothers:
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