D-Day, Omaha Beach First Waves ashore; amazing essay from “The Atlantic” in 1960

This is so powerful. Pretty much just leaving the link – if you are interested, takes 15-20 minutes to read.

"Photograph of American troops approaching Omaha Beach, Normandy, on D-Day."

First Wave at Omaha Beach An account of the “epic human tragedy” that unfolded when Allied troops landed on the shores of Normandy on D-Day

Unlike what happens to other great battles, the passing of the years and the retelling of the story have softened the horror of Omaha Beach on D Day.

This fluke of history is doubly ironic since no other decisive battle has ever been so thoroughly reported for the official record. While the troops were still fighting in Normandy, what had happened to each unit in the landing had become known through the eyewitness testimony of all survivors. It was this research by the field historians which first determined where each company had hit the beach and by what route it had moved inland. Owing to the fact that every unit save one had been mislanded, it took this work to show the troops where they had fought.