Where were the Marines on D-Day?
Wednesday, June 06, 2012
68 years ago, 175,000 American, British, and Canadian soldiers assaulted the beaches of Normandy. Notably absent were the U.S. Marines, who specialize in amphibious assaults. Marines trained the soldiers who would participate in the raids and even rode along as observers, but Gen. Eisenhower barred Marines from landing at Normandy.
W. Thomas Smith Jr. explains why at National Review.
The late military writer Hanson Baldwin, who covered Marine operations in the Pacific Theater prior to witnessing the June 6, 1944 assault, analyzes the Normandy landing and compares it to previous landings in the Pacific.