Outnumbered and literally outgunned. Everything that everyone did was an act of bravery. When you are in the line, youre one person. They were about protecting mankind based on those values. That to me has always been the mainstay of how you actually win over evil. It was the most monumental military operation in modern history. Dday, june 6th, 1944. Now 75 years later, we look back in remembrance on those beaches, the triumphs, the tragedy and the brilliant plans that ultimately liberated a continent. Tonight, you will hear the stories of some of our heroes and you will join them as they journey back to normandy. Im martha maccallum. Thank you for joining us for remembering dday, a 75th anniversary special. There was nothing like the german machinery. The capability and leadership of the German Military which was absolutely first rate. They militarized the rhineland, sending troops in there, and they were under orders from hitler that if they encountered any opposition whatsoever, they were to stop. They encountered no opposition. Led by a maniacal and determined adolf hitler, nazi forces laid a systematic plan to seize europe. They got away with it and they then staged the takeovers of austria and czechoslovakia. They then took poland. Amassed for the invasion of poland. The beginning of the blitzkrieg. Just two days after poland fell, france and britain declared war on germany. Poland has been guaranteed by Great Britain and france and this compels them to declare war. They took took denmark, norway, belgium, the netherlands. Every leader in europe who was listening to germany being nazified, so to speak, with this fundamentally corrupt and barbaric ideology, didnt want to believe that this would dominate europe. German forces were able to trap the british and french armies on the coast at dunkirk. The french began to negotiate at that point. In june of 1940, british troops were surrounded and forced to evacuate france at dunkirk, leaving the french at the mercy of nazi forces. They really didnt have the ability to deal with this modern german army. The cancer was too deep. On june 14th, paris fell. With france occupied, hitler turned his attention to britain. In july of 1940. In the battle of britain, england stood alone and was ravaged by hitlers bombers. The nazi air force or luftwaffa began to bomb the city of london, terrified residents with a relentless bombardment. They didnt have precision bombing. They were basically carpet bombing the city of london. The british Prime MinisterWinston Churchill rallied the british people to stay strong. Hes the voice of british determination to stick it out, fight nazi germany to the bitter end. By the fall of 1940, london was devastated. France had been divided into two parts. In the south, the free zone or v vichy france. In the north, occupied france, where the gestapo reigned. It was a military dictatorship. They started rounding up the Jewish Population of paris in waves and holding them and then ultimately most of those people were sent to the concentration camps, auschwitz and elsewhere. Many of them to die. The allies were dangerously close to the point of no return. They didnt react quickly enough, in my judgment, to what was happening, and push back and try to contain germany, in a sense incentivized hitler. Across the atlantic, the United States was waiting and watching. We shall send you in everincreasing numbers, ships, planes, tanks, guns. That is our purpose and our pledge. While not directly declaring war, the u. S. Government sent supplies and artillery to britain. Roosevelt called for an unprecedented peacetime draft under the selective training and service act. The military was very concerned. They needed to deal with germany and we would be forced to get into that war. In early august of 1941, president roosevelt and british Prime Minister churchill drafted the atlantic charter. It said that the democratic powers of the world should oppose all expansion by force, should not seek accretion of territory on their own and should espouse and encourage and try to defend freedom for all people. The democracy the west had known for two centuries hung in the balance. The world needed a saving grace. 1941, a date which will live in infamy. Japan attacked pearl harbor, roosevelt went to congress and asked for a declaration of war. He got his declaration of war. In support of japan, germany declared war on the United States on december 11th, 1941. The United States was then officially an allied power. Workmen are now breaking records manufacturing weapons for war. Roosevelt called for production of 50,000 aircraft in a year. Everybody thought he was crazy. They did it twice. It began right away to shift from a peacetime economy to a wartime economy, rationing of all strategic materials, food and everything else. As the home front ramped up for war, so did the soldiers that were to storm the beaches of normandy on dday. I was supporting my mother and father and i was chosen from a regular infantry division. I was a platoon sergeant. I volunteered to go with the first airborne, not knowing what was what but i think it was one of the wisest choices i ever made. They were unaware of the Critical Role they would play in one of historys most pivotal battles for world peace. You draw the strength to fight against Something Like that from the values and will of the people themselves. And that is how you can stand up against Something Like that, because you know its evil. And it has to be stopped. We call it the mother standard of care. Its how we care for our Cancer Patients like job. When he was diagnosed with cancer, his team at ctca created a Personalized Care plan to treat his cancer and side effects. So job could continue to work and stay strong for his family. This is how we inspire hope. This is how we heal. We love you, daddy. Good night. I love you guys. Cancer Treatment Centers of america. Appointments available now. Outgunned, outnumbered, outmatched. They radioed for help. Between 1941 and 1943, fighting in the pacific was raging. We had reached the turning point in the pacific after midway in 42, things had now turned around and the allies were on the advance in the pacific. Then the United States did turn its focus to defeating hitler. Churchill believed the only hope england had to prevail in the war was to get the United States into the war on their side, and so what we see is a series of 13 summit conferences. In may of 1943, the trident conference was held in washington, d. C. Roosevelt, churchill and other top american and British Military leaders were in attendance. They said we want to invade europe as soon as we can. George marshall believed the only way to defeat the germans or defeated them quickly was to force them into decisive battle. They began to conceptualize a large scale Amphibious Assault into france. Operation overlord, the clandestine plan to invade normandy and begin to reclaim europe was born. Over the next year and a half, allied leaders developed an intricate plan of legendary proportion. They designate a chief of staff and ultimately, make Lieutenant General to fill that role, the initial general who did the planning for Operation Overlord. The plan was to land with forces of the other allies, destroy the German Military and cause the germans to realize they have to surrender. Eisenhower was in charge of the operation. He was the overall commander in chief, and field Marshall Montgomery was in charge of the invasion force once it got into france. Breaking through german defenses into occupied europe would be a monumental task. In massive quantities, tanks roll from the nazi production line. Despite an obvious nazi advantage, the concept of an allied invasion still haunted hitler. Hitler issued fear directive order number 51, saying the greatest risk to the germans was british and american landing that he anticipated in the west. That was when he appointed rommel to command that and he began shifting troops from the east to the west at that time. The germans were building obstacles for three years prior to the invasion and they were formidable and they put the obstacles in the water that would deny ships the ability to land, there were mines in the water as well. The beaches themselves were just littered with obstacles. Almost a solid wall of steel and iron and guns. This feat of engineering was hitlers atlantic wall. It stretched across northern france and continued up the coast through norway. What the allies wanted is to have to keep those germans dispersed along the coastline so they would not be able to focus their effort in one place. The key to ensuring the invasion force would face a vulnerable german army was choosing a strategic landing point. They picked normandy because the germans expected the landing to come, the invasion to come at calais. The french region was closer to england and therefore more probable invasion point than the beaches of normandy. The five beaches were utah, omaha, gold, juno and sword. They were spread out among 60 miles of coastline. A shrewd point of infiltration was only part of the comprehensive mission. The masterminds of the invasion were also tasked with organizing an extraordinary number of troops on the ground to storm those five beaches. We were going to try to liberate a continent. We have to put millions of men through this beachhead. 11,000 airplanes, 50,000 vehicles and 6,000 ships to include Landing Craft. Never before in the history of military operations has there been anything like that and never has there been anything since. There are three British Empire beaches, gold is a british beach, juno is the canadian beach, sword is the other british beach. The two american beaches, omaha and utah. During 1943 and 1944, the nazis had most of their efforts focused on the soviet union in the east, increasing the allies chances of victory at normandy. Meanwhile, allied leaders co choreographed the invasion, keeping the details classified even from those who would fight on the front lines. We knew that we were going to have an invasion. How, where, what, why, we had no conception. In addition to keeping it all a secret, extraordinary steps were taken to mislead hitlers army in an effort to keep them dispersed. The deception plan for Operation Overlord is about imagination and brilliance. The allies knew they were outnumbered and literally outgunned, yet they were the invasion force. It was operation fortitude north and fort nude souitude so. North tried to convince the troops they were coming through norway and the other, through calais on the french coast. They were two parts of a larger deception plan called operation bodyguard designed to make sure the germans didnt know when and where the allies would land. Both british and american ghost armies were assembled. They designed an American Army group, headed up by a very famous general, George Patton, who actually was in charge of this paper organization. They used extensive radio deception, they broadcast traffic as though there was a real army there. They were representing something called the first u. S. Army group, totally fictitious. They had spies who were Double Agents convincing the germans that these organizations existed. Rooms full of people who just had radios and each one represented a Major Military formation and they would send out signals saying, you know, we need more wheaties, we need more bullets. The allies covered all bases. Not only telecommunication. They used physical deception, they built inflatable tanks and they put them in the area of eastern england. The germans believed they would come from if they would land there. They actually put in place on the ground literally hundreds of airplanes made out of plywood. They put up tents, they kept fires burning so that it looked like they were actively occupied. Reconnaissance aircraft came across into scotland, where the British Army Group was in theory in place. Thats what they saw, so the germans were convinced it was going to be an attack in the northern part of europe, in norway and sweden and those divisions did not move, and they were also convinced that George Patton was going to lead an invasion offset from normandy and that is why those forces never moved either. So that deception was very successful. As hitler prepared for what he perceived to be an impending attack through Northern Europe and calais, american, british and canadian troops continued to rehearse for the real battle that would take place at normandy. [ sigh ] not gonna happen. Thats it. Im calling kohler about their walkin bath. My name is ken. How may i help you . Hi, im calling about kohlers walkin bath. Excellent happy to help. Huh . Hold one moment please. [ finger snaps ] hmm. Its soft. The kohler walkin bath features an extrawide opening and a low stepin at three inches, which is 25 to 60 lower than some leading competitors. 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Once again, thats. And financing is available for qualified purchasers. All along the coast of Great Britain, the training went on. Navy and coast guard landing barges practiced landing operations day and night. We were suddenly training on cliffs on the west coast of england. We started hey, more cliffs, we must have some cliff climbing in our future. The training would soon prove invaluable as a blueprint for dday utilized diverse forms of military might with methodical coordination. The pathfinders, an elite group of paratroopers, would be the first of the invasion force to deploy, set to land behind the beaches. Their mission is to set up navigation zones for the armada of aircraft that are coming. Aircraft that followed would bring more paratroopers prepared to land behind enemy lines and fortify the western edge of the invasion zone. Bombers were then set to swoop in and pummel german artillery hubs along the coast, and continue the assault throughout the morning. Gliders would then follow the bombers, landing behind the bluff to fulfill the same objectives as the paratroopers while also bringing with them weapons and medical supplies and navigation tools. Finally, the operation would culminate in an onslaught of amphibious vehicles and higgins boats. On board, tens of thousands of allied troops equipped to forge path the bluffs and rescue france. The tanks were to go in first, in the first wave. And the second wave to come in about 20 minutes later, more Landing Craft. Each one of those Landing Craft was completely scripted. They held 30 men and each one had so many rifle men, so many bazooka men, so many mortar men, so many flame throwers, so many engineers that could deal with barbed wire, that sort of thing. As a member of the 110st airborne division, vincents training focused on parachuting. I was aide to the general. He said were jumping this afternoon. What do you say to the general . Yes, sir. We went down to the field. The colonel said the red light goes on, you shuffle up to the door, as soon as the green light goes on, he wanted the flame and the jump. I got a call from the general, second in command, the 76th division, asking me how would i like to be a First Sergeant of a ranger company. Leonard trained to storm the beach by sea as part of the second ranger battalion. We had already been trained in the states as far as Amphibious Training was concerned. It was always called the frog men, s. E. A. L. S today. There was a foregone conclusion we were going to be successful. That was about a year for many of the soldiers. We were fortunate to have that time to prepare. The day drew closer, and the true process of the mission was revealed. Little by little, they were feeding us information. Oh, normandy, they simply told us you open your mouth, youre out of here. Commission was that when we landed, we had to take the ground and we had to try and establish a foothold on the france proper. They wanted to do it, the initial date was to be on the 5th of june. It was finally time for the troops to embark on their journey to the coast of france. We ended up going down to one of the airfields a few days ahead of time. We knew what was coming. A meteorologist told them the weather was relatively clear on the 4th, was going to be awful on the 5th and ike decided he had to postpone it. Terrible, stormy, rainy, windy. There was a break in the horrible weather. Why general eisenhower changed it from the 5th to the 6th but that was his only opportunity. They had to have at least about 30 hours lead time for the ships to leave all over the united kingdom. We loaded on to the transports that were going to take us over. We left nightfall. Fooled by operation bodyguard and the impending weather, field Marshal Erwin ro