The ultimate victory in the Second World War European theater was directly as a result of the Normandy beach landing, on D Day. The Army landed all along the beach, but the place where they made a large difference was called Omaha Beach. They landed as part of the Allied Invasion force on June 6th, 1944 to start the ultimate push across the European Continent to victory. Omaha Beech is located on the northern part of France facing the English Channel, and is about 5 miles long. The beach stretches from Vierville-sur-Mer on the west to Sainte-Honorine-des-Pertes on the east. The action and brave sacrifice that U.S. Army personnel made in the Omaha beach landings helped link up American landings on the west to British landings on the east of the beech.
The Army was delivered by forces of the British Royal Navy and by the U.S. Navy, together they transported the 29th Infantry division, along with several companies of U.S. Army Rangers coming off a battle in Pointe du Hoc. Together they assaulted the western Half of Omaha beach, with the battle hardened Army infantry 1st Division left to assault the east half of the beach. The first waves of the assault were infantry, tanks and combat engineer forces, and were carefully laid out to try and make the later landing of larger ships possible.
The goal of the Army at Omaha beach was to form a site, a beachhead five miles long and to help unite other forces who were landing all along the coast of Normandy. It was a difficult landing, defenses were strong and the first landings resulted in heavy casualties. It was a long and difficult fight but they were able to clear some openings in the German Defenses. Without the beachhead and sacrifice that the initial Army troops made the additional waves of Allied Soldiers would not have been able to land or to get on shore.
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Thousands of men perished on Omaha Beach in the first three days, but then gradually a beachhead was established, and ultimately a way onto shore was established and maintained, which aided in the eventual triumph over the Axis powers and the end of World War II. The cemeteries on the cliffs overlooking the English Channel bear mute witness to the ability and the bravery of the American Army Soldier.
