The United States Role in the Good War, 1941 - 1945

Toward Victory – World War II in Europe

During most of World War II, the

Soviet Union was fighting the Nazi

war machine single handedly in

Europe. Stalin pleaded with his

Allies to open a front in Western

Europe, but the attack was

postponed and delayed. Winston

Churchill, stuck between two fierce

superpowers, remarked, “Look

here!. I am the leader of a strong,

unbeaten nation. Yet every

morning when I wake my first

thought is how I can please

President Roosevelt and my second

is how I can conciliate Marshall

Stalin.” The US was reluctant to

begin a second front in Europe.

Instead, Americans provided

weapons, war materials, and

Spam®.

Joseph Stalin demanded the US and Britain open a Second Front.

Sicily - 1943

After the United States

and English troops

captured Sicily, they used

it as a base to launch an

invasion of mainland Italy.

Once the invasion was

underway, Benito

Mussolini was denounced

by the King of Italy, and

forced to flee Rome. The

Italians ultimately

captured and executed

Mussolini – but the Nazi

forces which had come

forward to supplement

Italy’s defenses were a

formidable threat yet.

Dwight David Eisenhower

General

Eisenhower took

personal

responsibility for

the D-Day

Invasion of

Europe, carried

out on June 6,

1944. The code

name for the

event was

Operation

Overlord, and the

assault on the

Normandy region

of France was a

great success –

with high

casualties at

Omaha.

The Assault on Omaha Beach

The assault on Omaha Beach was one of five landings on the D-Day invasion (Utah, Sword, Juno, and Gold beaches were the others). Most of the other beachheads were secured without significant losses.

Omaha Beach

At Omaha Beach,

Americans met

fierce resistance

from Nazi

gunners,

entrenched in pill

boxes on the cliffs

of Normandy.

During the

assault, over

2500 Americans

gave their lives to

preserve the

American way of

life – individual

rights and liberty.

The popular memory of the D-Day invasion plays a large role in how Americans remember the war in general. The US role in World War II, and particularly the role of Americans in winning the war, has been the source of great pride for the United States. It is commonly argued that American efforts resulted in the defeat of the Axis powers – an argument which, at best , needs to be qualified.The emphasis on the D-Day invasion at Omaha is central to the narrative in Saving Private Ryan, for example.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sgs5DgDhsnI

“Saving Private Ryan”: Public Memory of the D-Day Invasion, World War II

“The Greatest Generation” and “The Good War” are commonly ascribed euphemisms for the men who fought in and the conflict known as World War II. Studs Terkel was responsible for “The Good War” becoming popular jargon – although some people object that no war is good. The Greatest Generation is a more recent tribute, as the generation of men who fought in the war pass away, they are remembered as men who braved an evil enemy. The clarity of purpose in the war and the unambiguous goals presented in Saving Private Ryan allow us to celebrate the American role in the conflict – divorced for a more general narrative of World War II.

Saving Private Ryan and public memory of World War II.

Executive Mansion,Washington, Nov. 21, 1864.Dear Madam,

I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,

A. Lincoln

The Letter to Mrs. Bixby – a side note

The letter may have been written by John Hay, Lincoln’s secretary .

While Mrs. Bixby was the mother of five Union Soldiers, at least three of the boys survived the war.

Pointe du Hoc

Members of the US

Military scaled the sea

cliffs at Pointe du Hoc at

Omaha Beach to capture

their German

adversaries. They

climbed up rope ladders

under heavy fire, and

suffered terrible

casualties in the process.

The assault on seawall

was intended to capture

heavy guns the Nazis had

in place – the guns,

however, had been

disassembled and

replaced by wooden

replicas.

D-Day: June 6, 1944

American, British, and

Canadian troops who

stormed the beaches

at Omaha met heavy

fire from the German

Army – despite a

bombardment by

naval vessels all

morning. One of the

squads which suffered

the heaviest casualties

was from Bedford, VA.

Hence, the National

D-Day Memorial in

Bedford, Virginia,

today.

The D-Day Invasion

At one point in

the assault,

Eisenhower

considered

evacuating the

beachhead – and

retreating from

the area. But

slowly but surely

– miraculously –

soldiers started to

reach the heights

of Omaha beach,

and engage the

enemy. The Nazis

began to falter.

Omaha Beach, D-Day Plus

By the end of the

morning,

American and

Allied soldiers

had secured the

beachhead and

created an

artificial port

where they began

landing weapons

and materials for

the assault on

Nazi-controlled

Europe.

The Battle of the Bulge

The last major

assault on Allied

troops in Western

Europe took place

in the winter of

1944 – 1945 in

Belgium and the

low countries.

The

counterattack is

known as the

Battle of the

Bulge because of

the dent in put on

the Allied lines

across Western

Europe.

The Battle of the Bulge,

1944 - 1945

The Battle of the

Bulge took place

in the bitter cold

winter of 1944 –

1945, and ended

any hope the

Nazis had of

reinvigorating

their war

machine. After

the Battle of the

Bulge ended in

Nazi defeat,

Russian,

American, and

English soldiers

raced for Berlin.

The Red Army of the Soviet Union Arrived in Berlin.

President Roosevelt Passed Away April 12, 1945

When President

Roosevelt passes

away in April of

1945 – of a stroke

while resting at

Warm Springs, GA –

he was confident

that the United

States would

prevail in Europe.

The city of Berlin

would fall in the

next several weeks,

and Germany would

surrender with one

month.

Harry S Truman

Truman ascended

to the Presidency

in 1945, and took

control of the war

effort. He was so

little informed of

the situations in

the war that

many worried

whether or not he

was competent to

manage the job as

Commander in

Chief – but he

learned the ropes

quickly.

Adolf Hitler’s Suicide

Adolf Hitler and

his mistress Eva

Braun committed

suicide sometime

in late April of

1945 – just as the

Soviet Union’s

Army was rolling

into Berlin with

punishing force.

His body was

discovered by

Soviet soldiers,

burned, and the

taken back to the

Soviet Union.

V-E Day: Victory in Europe – May 8th, 1945

When Germany

surrendered to

the Allies,

officially ending

the war in

Europe, wild

celebrations took

place all over the

world – but

Americans still

had another war

to fight – in the

Pacific Theatre,

against Japan.

Many predicted a

long war.