Photo by Robert Capa
Although the Allies claimed victory on the beach, it came at a great price- the lives of thousands of men. German defenses massacred troops as they rushed the beaches. Despite the amount of destruction around them, Allies still kept pushing. Victory came at the greatest price, the tragic loss of thousands of brave soldiers. These soldiers had helped save the lives of thousands, but at the cost of their own. Their families would not see the return of their beloved sons, but instead see a flag in honor of them.
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There’s a graveyard in northern France where all the dead boys from D-Day are buried. The white crosses reach from one horizon to the other. I remember looking it over and thinking it was a forest of graves. But the rows were like this, dizzying, diagonal, perfectly straight, so after all it wasn’t a forest but an orchard of graves. Nothing to do with nature, unless you count human nature.” |
From the German perspective, this was a tragic loss that ultimately cost them the war. Allies went on to liberate France. Axis powers lost momentum and were forced back further into Europe where they would eventually be surrounded.
The German Army suffered a catastrophe greater than that of Stalingrad, the defeat in North Africa or even the massive Soviet summer offensive of 1944. |