[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 96 (Tuesday, June 6, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E771]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




COMMEMORATING THE 73RD ANNIVERSARY OF D-DAY AND REMEMBERING THE MEMBERS 
       OF THE GREATEST GENERATION WHO SAVED FREEDOM IN THE WORLD

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 6, 2017

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, today, June 6, marks the 73rd 
anniversary of D-Day, the Allied Forces' audacious amphibious landing 
at Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944.
  This joint undertaking to liberate the continent of Europe from the 
clutches of an evil and aggressor enemy was the first and most emphatic 
demonstration of the invincible strength of democratic nations when 
acting collectively.
  For nearly seventy years, from April 4, 1949 to January 20, 2017, 
peace in Europe has been secured and no adversary, not the old Soviet 
Union or the contemporary Russian Federation, has dared to risk war by 
attacking a European ally of the United States because every American 
president has made clear that the United States is committed to Article 
V of the North Atlantic Treaty which holds that an attack on any NATO 
member is regarded as an attack on all of them.
  Mr. Speaker, ``Operation Overlord,'' as D-Day was formally known, was 
the largest single amphibious assault in the history of warfare.
  The success of D-Day, which was far from certain at the outset, led 
to the liberation of Western Europe, signaled the death knell of the 
German Wehrmacht, and paved the way to unconditional victory by the 
Allied Forces over the evils of Nazism, fascism, and Japanese 
imperialism.
  It is no exaggeration to say that D-Day changed the course of human 
history.
  The aim of the meticulously planned D-Day operation was to open a 
second front in the European war theater from which the Allied Forces 
could attack the German army and push east to capture Berlin.
  With the Russian Army advancing from the east, coupled with the 
southern front opened by the Allied invasion of Italy from North Africa 
in 1942, the opening of a western front would set in motion the pincer 
movement that would catch the German Army in a trap from which there 
would be no escape.
  The formidable German Army expected that the Allied Forces would try 
to launch an invasion from the western beaches of France.
  They just did not know when or where.
  So in anticipation of an Allied invasion, the Nazis constructed the 
infamous Atlantic Wall, an extensive system of coastal fortifications 
built along the western coast of Europe and Scandinavia.
  Under the direction of Field Marshal Rommel, the Atlantic Wall was 
reinforced by the addition of concrete pillboxes built along the 
beaches to house machine guns, antitank guns and light artillery.
  Mines and antitank obstacles were planted on the beaches themselves 
and underwater obstacles and mines were placed in waters just off 
shore.
  By the time of the D-Day landing, the Nazis had laid almost six 
million mines in northern France.
  And awaiting Allied soldiers who made their way onto and away from 
the beaches were gun emplacements and minefields extended inland.
  ``War is hell,'' said General William Tecumseh Sherman during the 
Civil War.
  And that is an apt description of what awaited the brave Allied 
warriors who set sail from England to the beaches of Normandy in the 
early morning of June 6, 1944, at the beginning of what has rightly 
been called ``The Longest Day.''
  But they were buoyed in their resolve by the millions of prayers from 
Americans and others back home, of all races, religions, and creeds, 
invoking the Lord's blessing, mercy, and grace.
  With the outcome in doubt, President Franklin Roosevelt asked the 
nation to join him in this solemn prayer:

       Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have 
     set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our 
     Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free 
     a suffering humanity.
       Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, 
     stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.
       They will need Thy blessings.
       For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace.
       They fight not for the lust of conquest.
       They fight to end conquest.
       They fight to liberate.
       They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill 
     among all Thy people.
       They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to 
     the haven of home.

  The prayers were needed because the cost of D-Day was high; U.S. 
casualties on D-Day totaled more than 2,499 dead, 3,184 wounded, 1,928 
missing, and 26 captured.
  Our British and Canadian allies suffered terrible losses on D-Day as 
well: approximately 2,700 for the British and 946 for the Canadians. 
German casualties are estimated at 4,000 to 9,000.
  In total, the number of combatants killed, wounded or missing in the 
Battle of Normandy for both sides exceeded 425,000, not including the 
estimated 15,000 to 20,000 French civilians killed.
  But the operation was a success.
  More than 156,000 troops or paratroopers came ashore on D-Day, 73,000 
from the U.S., 83,000 from Great Britain and Canada.
  By the end of June 11, D-Day plus 5, 326,547 troops, 54,186 vehicles 
and 104,428 tons of supplies had come ashore.
  And with them the seeds for the victory in Europe that would come 
less than a year later, on May 8, 1945, with the fall of Berlin and the 
unconditional surrender of the Nazis.
  On the eve of the Normandy invasion, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, 
the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, addressed the soldiers, 
sailors, and airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Forces and said to them 
that they were about to embark upon a ``Great Crusade,'' and that the 
``eyes of the world'' were upon them.
  He told them that their task would not be easy because the ``enemy is 
well trained, well equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight 
savagely.''
  But, General Eisenhower said, ``this is the year 1944. The tide has 
turned. The free men of the world are marching together to victory.''
  And march to victory they did, fully justifying General Eisenhower's 
``confidence in their courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle.''
  Because of the heroism of these men who willingly risked their lives 
to be the tip of the spear of liberty, the war was won and a world was 
saved for freedom.
  Mr. Speaker, D-Day was, and remains, a day like no other in the 
history of man's sojourn on earth.
  We remember Gettysburg.
  There, President Lincoln paid tribute to those ``who gave their lives 
so that the nation might live.''
  It is equally fitting and proper that we never forget D-Day and that 
we continue to honor those who risked all and gave all so that the 
world could remain free.

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