As
some of you may know, yesterday marked the 68th anniversary of
D-Day, the landing of Allied troops in Normandy, France against Germany’s
fortress Europe. The term D-Day is
one that is given to a military timing of an invasion or mission… much like the
term “T-1” would be to a rocket launch.
There were many D-Days in World War II. History, however, has forever tied it to this singular battle.
If
you flipped through the TV channels yesterday you may have come across it. Passing
AMC or TMC, you might have caught movies like The Longest Day or Saving Private
Ryan. The Military Channel would
have shown you actual footage.
These offerings covered the brave battle and sacrifice of our
soldiers. What I am going to talk
about is more for the History Channel’s Modern Marvels. After D-Day was a success, then
what? Rarely is it covered how you
support and supply an army, even across the smallest stretches of the English Channel. There was no Chunnel. What the Allied engineers showed they
could do in a time of need was amazing.
They not only had to come up WITH the idea, but they would have to
design it and implement it…and it HAD to work.
Thanksgivings
for me were always a large event, filled with family, food and football. It would last all day. After my matriarchal Grandmother
passed, the individual families spent that day separate. And when my parents passed, it was just
Christina and I. We would spend
the early part of that day with her Mom and Dad. In 2003, Christina’s friend and her parents graciously
invited us to join them afterwards at their Thanksgiving dinner. It was a relatively large gathering of
family and friends set in a lovely rustic home. It became a tradition for the next few years. What I enjoyed about it was the way the
several tables were set up. The
guests were split from their partners and placed near others they may not
know. This prompted conversation
over cliques. I appreciated that the
room was filled with intellectuals…stupid people give me a rash. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not always
referring to book smart…because some of the most brilliant people I know are
idiots. Anyway, I had just sat
down next to an older gentleman. I
had remembered him from the year before.
He was a professor at a local college and he was nearing retirement. I listened in on the conversation. He was talking about history and how
some of his students didn’t know some of the basics he felt they should. He tested our table with the same
question he offered his class, “Does anyone know what a Mulberry is?” Finding my opening, I quickly answered,
“It has to do with D-Day”.
Thinking he stumped everyone he quickly retorted, “No, it has to do
with…Wait…did you say D-Day?”
Well, I was right…of course I was.
He did not know my history buff background. Christina, looking over from the next table, knew I would be…she
lives in a World War II museum with me.
The
Mulberry was the Modern Marvel of its day. In the movies and documentaries of the landings, you may have
seen the small boats drop ashore and the soldiers attack. However, once the beach was taken and
secured there was no need to rush to land in that fashion. Also, how do you get supplies,
ammunition, tanks, trucks, etc to these men in an efficient and timely manner? If you have ever been to a beach…you’ll
notice no boats tend to dock there…something about the waves. They head to the bay side where the
marinas are. Now the Allies didn’t
have that option and they had much larger ships that needed to dock. A port was necessary. But instead of trying to invade a port
heavily defended by the Germans, the Allies decided to build a makeshift one of
their own. That is where the Mulberry
comes in. They were created to
provide the port facilities necessary to offload the thousands of men and
vehicles, and tons of supplies necessary to sustain the invasion at Normandy. The Mulberry Harbor, as it came to be
known, was actually two artificial harbors, which were towed across the English
Channel and put together off the coast of the invasion site. Only three days after the landings the construction
began. Unfortunately one of these harbors would be destroyed by a storm just 10
days later. Luckily, the second
one survived. What was originally designed
to last only 3 months was in operation for 10, until it was no longer
needed. Even today visitors can
still clearly see some of the Mulberry structural elements of the one named
Port Winston…after Winston Churchill. Some historians say the D-Day landings won the battle, but it
was the Mulberry that helped win the war. Countries, commanders, soldiers and yes,
even politicians, came together in an event on such a grand scale that we might
never see again.
Last
night, I absorbed as much as I could on the television about the D-Day invasion. It would sadden me what I would see
later on the news…especially on the D-Day anniversary. A Tea Party candidate won the Senate
election for the State of Indiana over the 36-year Republican incumbent. He was asked about his defeated
opponents objection to being Bi-Partisan.
I was hoping to hear how he wanted to work together, something this country
has not seen in several years. Instead,
the new Senator proudly proclaimed that he IS Bi-Partisan…as long as the other
side comes to HIS parties point of view.
Forget
about the Mulberry, the way Congress is now, they probably couldn’t get sand to
those troops on the beach. Each
side points a finger at the other…and it is only getting worse. I have no answer. Not only the
politicians, but also the people seem to be set in their ways. We should all just watch C-Span instead
of Fox and CNN. A direct feed from
the floor of Congress never lies.
I
look back at how history might have been altered if a Congress like this one were
in charge during World War II.
All
I can say is, it’s a good thing I like Wiener Schnitzel.
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