Project Vigil: Remembering the Heroes of Normandy

Seventy-Two Years Ago Today...

Seventy-two years ago, the biggest sea-borne invasion in the history of mankind was occurring at this very moment, an invasion that would change the course of history. It was an invasion that involved over 156,000 Allied troops from thirteen countries, pitted against Nazi Adolph Hitler’s ‘Atlantic Wall’. Here’s a few facts you may not have known about this significant turning point in World War II:

- Many people mistake the landings as being codenamed ‘Operation Overlord’; that was the overall title for the establishment of an Allied foothold in Europe. ‘Operation Neptune’ was the actual designation for the beach landings at Normandy.

- Actual American deaths directly related to D-Day first occurred on April 28^th, 1944, when a convoy of troop ships involved in a dress rehearsal for the landings were torpedoed by German U-boats off the coast of England. 946 American soldiers were killed.

- James Doohan, known to millions of ‘Star Trek’ fans as Mister Scott, was shot in the chest and hand during his Canadian division’s landing on Juno Beach. A silver cigarette case in Doohan’s shirt pocket saved him from death, although he did lose a finger.

- Preliminary plans for ‘Operation Neptune’ blew out an open window at Supreme Allied Headquarters in London in the summer of 1943; they were found by an elderly pedestrian who immediately returned them, saying his poor eyesight kept him from reading any of the top-secret documents.

- Famed American author J. D. Salinger landed on Omaha Beach with the American 4^th Infantry Division carrying his unfinished Catcher in the Rye in his pack. Salinger would go on to fight in the Battle of the Bulge and the Battle of Hurtgen Forest.

- A Spanish-born double agent working for British intelligence, Juan Pujol, was so adept at his craft that he convinced Hitler that the D-Day invasion would not occur in June of 1944. Adolph Hitler awarded Pujol with the Iron Cross for his service without ever realizing he’d been mightily duped.

- The ‘D’ in D-Day means nothing; many believe it stood for ‘Deliverance’, ‘Doom’ or ‘Debarkation’ but that was never the case.

- War photographer Robert Capa came onshore with the second wave of troops at Omaha Beach. Despite taking two reels of film, only eleven survived for publication. An assistant developing his pictures over-dried the rest, ruining them.

- John Steele of the American 505^th Parachute Infantry Regiment was part of the unit that was mistakenly dropped into the French town of St Mere Eglise; his ‘chute snagged on a church steeple, where he hung for two hours before finally being taken prisoner. Steele later escaped and rejoined his unit, which took the village from the Nazis. For his actions and injuries during combat, Steele was awarded a Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Steele was so enamored with St Mere Eglise and its townspeople that he often visited after the war; a tavern, Auberge John Steele, is named after him there. Steele died in 1969 of throat cancer.