6.07.2004
60 years after D-Day invasion, casualty total still unclear
From the Marine Corps TimesBy John Leicester
Associated Press
The exploits of D-Day have long been legend: the storming of the beaches, parachute drops into enemy territory. But 60 years later, the number of dead is still unclear. The chaos of battle and the vast scale of the assault thwarted attempts then, and now, to tally how many thousands were killed in the June 6, 1944 landings.
Bodies disintegrated under bombs and shells. Soldiers drowned and disappeared. Company clerks who tallied casualties were killed. Records were lost.
Historians say a definitive death toll will likely never be known. Even now, the Normandy soil for which soldiers fought so bitterly offers up new bodies.
In all, some 160,000 men invaded Nazi-occupied France in the first wave, in three airborne and six infantry divisions, tank and commando units. That more troops were not killed is testimony to the planning, training and overwhelming firepower of the Allies.
Visit the National D-Day Memorial Foundation in Bedford, VA, or see here
Associated Press
The exploits of D-Day have long been legend: the storming of the beaches, parachute drops into enemy territory. But 60 years later, the number of dead is still unclear. The chaos of battle and the vast scale of the assault thwarted attempts then, and now, to tally how many thousands were killed in the June 6, 1944 landings.
Bodies disintegrated under bombs and shells. Soldiers drowned and disappeared. Company clerks who tallied casualties were killed. Records were lost.
Historians say a definitive death toll will likely never be known. Even now, the Normandy soil for which soldiers fought so bitterly offers up new bodies.
In all, some 160,000 men invaded Nazi-occupied France in the first wave, in three airborne and six infantry divisions, tank and commando units. That more troops were not killed is testimony to the planning, training and overwhelming firepower of the Allies.
Visit the National D-Day Memorial Foundation in Bedford, VA, or see here
# posted by Frank_D @ 23:56 
