Black Hole: The Day That Changed History

It was on this date, sixty three years ago, that the actions of over 120 000 brave young men led by General Dwight D Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, changed the course of our world. It changed not only the outcome of one of the bloodiest wars in history, but it also changed the fate of the entire free world.
Operation Overlord as they called it was and still remains as the single most audacious of amphibious landings / military operation ever to be performed anywhere on the face of this planet.
The year was 1944. The fate of the free world hung precariously on the edge of a cliff as the armies of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini held an iron grip over much of Europe. The armies of Emperor Hirohito were performing atrocities over much of the Asia Pacific region. In the concentration camps in Europe, in the jungle infested battlefields of Asia, thousands of innocent lives were being mercilessly massacred everyday. In the high seas, world economic trade was being impeded by Hitlers hungry Wolf Packs led by Admiral Karl Donitz. Day by day these U-Boats sent tonnes of shipping o the bottom of the ocean. Something had to be done before conditions got worse.
Then after months of arduous planning, Operation Overlord was called into action. The plan was for 120 000 allied soldiers to perform an amphibious landing on the beaches of Normandy and storm Hitler's Atlantic wall. The beaches that the forces were to be landed at were codenamed Omaha, Utah, Gold, Juno and Sword. The American troops were to land at Omaha and Utah. The British and Canadian forces were to land at beaches Gold, Juno and Sword.
Before the day of the actual landing,the 5th of June 1944, paratrooper squadrons were dispatched to get behind enemy lines and disrupt as much as they could, the German supplies. They were also instructed to capture key bridges to keep German armor and reinforcements from reaching the beachheads on the day of the invasion. This operation, though a mess was a success. Thousands of paratroopers were displaced and lost. Some even ended up miles from their actual landing positions. But nevertheless, these brave souls did their job valiantly.
Then on the morning of June the 6th 1944, the invasion, albeit rough weather, took place. 120 000 Allied soldiers stormed Hitler's Atlantic wall. In the attack, the heaviest casualties were suffered by the American forces on beaches Omaha and Utah. The reason for such a debacle was that the DD tanks had sunk under the English Channel. Therefore leaving the men on those beaches with virtually no armored support at all. This left the men vulnerable to German MG-42s, sniper fire and also attack from heavy gun installations. But despite these adversities these men managed to secure both the beach heads. Alexander the Great once said. The coward tastes death many times before his death. But the valiant only tastes death once. The British and Canadian forces on the other hand faced relatively little opposition at their respective beach heads.
The rest as they said, was history. The freedom that you and I enjoy would not have been possible hadn't these soldiers did what they did 63 years ago. Therefore we should all take a moment to appreciate and think about those who died for us, the heroes who died just so that we can all be free. I know that I am grateful to every single on one of those men an women who selflessly fought for freedom in World War 2.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75Tqb1Wp0IM

Part 1