D-Day+1

This Day in History: June 7, 1944

The morning of June 7, we are still at war but the tides have turned marking the beginning of an end. While yesterday D-Day, June 6, 1944 marks a turning point in history, it is a day that should be remembered throughout the entire year. The walk along the beaches of Normandy on the morning of June 7 would indeed be completely unimaginable. Yet, had it not been for the courage and sacrifice of thousands upon thousands of soldiers, the course of history would be totally different. That day marked a beginning. A new beginning. A beginning of the end of a horrific war.

Then and now: Haunting D-Day landings pictures in Normandy

Images show stark contrast between Normandy tourist beaches now and how they looked during invasion.

In the aftermath of D-Day, its analysis established the Normandy landings were the largest seaborne invasion in history, with nearly 5,000 landing and assault craft, 289 escort vessels, and 277 minesweepers participating. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on D-Day, with 875,000 men disembarking by the end of June. Allied casualties on the first day were at least 12,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead. The Germans lost 1,000 men. [Source: en.wikipedia.org]

Partial view of Omaha Beach temporary Cemetery established by Third Platoon, 607th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company elements on 7 June 1944. Graves Registration and Engineer Special Brigade medical personnel are recovering and processing American and German dead along the waterline and the beach.

The exact count of all who perished on June 6 remains a continuous challenge. The identifications of all who perished is virtually impossible. 

A body struck by an artillery shell could be, essentially, erased, and that’s just one of the possible fates that faced those who went ashore or jumped into Normandy. Seventy years after the landings, the unidentified remains of soldiers killed in the fighting are still being turned up by farmers and amateur archaeologists.”
Source: The Challenge of Counting D-Day's Dead

 New York Times from June 7, 1944

“The prevailing opinion in Germany before our entry into war, was, that American was a money hunting nation, too engrossed in the hunt of the dollar to produce a strong military force. But since our troops have been in action the opinion has changed, and he says that though Germany is at present a defeated nation, he believes that they would be victors in a war with any nation in the world with the exemption of the United States.”
—Karl Finkl of Bolingen