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.