[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 79 (Monday, June 7, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6464-S6465]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 55TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE D-DAY LANDINGS

  Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. President, June 6, 1999, was the 55th Anniversary 
of the historic Allied invasion of Europe on the beaches of Normandy, 
France, that spelled the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany.
  In America today, with unprecedented prosperity and material comfort, 
it is hard to appreciate the American experience leading up to World 
War II and the war itself.
  When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, the United States was 
not only caught off guard, we were also caught unprepared for the war 
that loomed in Europe and in the Pacific that would involve the United 
States for 5 long years.
  Still plagued by the Great Depression, unemployment sky high and 
poverty all around, Americans accepted the challenge and responded like 
no people ever had.
  With scrap metal drives, rubber drives, gasoline and food rationing, 
and other efforts American men and women pulled together and 
contributed to the massive war effort.
  Americans of all races, creeds, colors, and backgrounds joined the 
military, worked in industrial plants, and assisted in too many ways to 
mention as

[[Page S6465]]

the nation joined together to battle tyranny and oppression.
  America's economic and military might was called on to produce 
hundreds of thousands of planes, tanks, trucks, ships, boats, and 
weapons. We not only produced the materials for our own efforts but 
kept our Allies supplied with civilian and military goods to ensure an 
Allied victory.
  The ``Arsenal of Democracy'' was running at high gear from 1941 on, 
and all of these efforts came to a head in June, 1944.
  Even after the successful Africa campaign showed that the German war 
machine was not invincible, America and her Allies looked for a 
``second front'' to draw Nazi Germany's attention and resources into 
other battles.
  Under the leadership of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Allies 
began planning for just such a front with an amphibious invasion in 
Europe and America's fighting forces made the necessary preparations.
  Millions of men, and millions of tons of equipment, supplies, 
vehicles and weapons were delivered from the United States to England 
in preparation for the assault.
  Postponed several times because of poor weather in the English 
Channel, on June 5, 1944, General Eisenhower gave the final order that 
would unleash the historic battle.
  In the morning hours of June 6th, over 175,000 men from the streets 
of Philadelphia to Indian reservations of Arizona, from Alaska to 
Florida, landed on the beaches of Normandy, France.
  In the years since that day, we have seen movies about this, the most 
ambitious amphibious invasion ever attempted in history. Just last year 
we saw it vividly replayed with the movie ``Saving Private Ryan'' in 
what the soldiers themselves said was an accurate portrayal what 
occurred so many years ago.
  As a veteran, and having read many eyewitness accounts of that day, I 
think that the real horrors of that day, and especially the first 
minutes of that historic landing, are simply unimaginable to us.
  Though the Allies enjoyed complete air superiority in the Normandy 
area, clouds shrouded the beaches diminishing the effect of Allied air 
power.
  At the landing beach that quickly became known as ``Bloody Omaha'', 
the Americans took the brunt of the German defenses.
  Entire companies of men were chopped down seconds after the doors 
dropped on the landing craft. The Germans poured fire down on the 
Americans, but they kept coming ashore wave after wave.
  Only alter an exhaustive day of fighting and dying, was the beachhead 
established.
  In 1999, it is easy to think of the D-Day invasion and of the Allied 
success in World War II as pre-determined. In 1944, it just was not so 
and Eisenhower and the Allied leaders knew that at that point victory 
was not assured and that the war could still be lost.
  It is humbling to read the never-delivered address General Eisenhower 
penned in case the Allies were driven back into the sea.
  In it, Eisenhower assumed all fault for a failed invasion attempt. 
Thankfully, he never had to deliver that address.
  From the beaches at Normandy, the Allies broke out, fought through 
the hedgerows, and went on to liberate Paris in July, 1944.
  From Paris to the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes, through the 
low countries and ultimately sweeping on to Berlin the Allies--with the 
Americans taking the lead--secured victory over Nazi Germany in April, 
1945.
  It took four more months of island-to-island combat to defeat the 
Japanese Empire in August, 1945, and to achieve complete and total 
victory in World War II.
  This nation owes a great debt of gratitude to the men and women who 
made Normandy and the entire war effort the success it was.
  With each day, scores of D-Day veterans, many in their late 70's and 
80's, pass away. As a generation, this group was unique in living and 
making real their unspoken code: faithfulness and duty to God, family, 
and country.
  The brave men of Normandy--both the survivors and those buried in the 
American Cemetery just up the hill from the landing beaches--from both 
humble and privileged beginnings, deserve to be honored by the Senate 
and the nation as whole.
  In this spirit I urge my colleagues to support me in honoring the 
veterans of D-Day and all veterans who have sacrificed for this great 
nation.

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