Notice: Function add_theme_support( 'html5' ) was called incorrectly. You need to pass an array of types. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 3.6.1.) in /var/www/wp-includes/functions.php on line 5905
June 2020
Archive

June 2020

Browsing

This is an exclusive Grey Beard Biker opinion piece. All opinions are his and his only. If you do not agree with them, please hop on your girly Honda Grom and motor away. – GBB

I have been suffering from writer’s block recently. It’s not that I don’t have opinions on things or have plenty to say. It’s because, as my beautiful gal in North Carolina says, “everything is rinsed and recycled!” My true love is definitely one damn smart lady – and pretty too. But that is another topic. So this morning, I was thinking about what I could bloviate on in a blog post. I could not think of a damn thing. #Antifa, #BlackLivesMatter, #COVID19, #BlueLivesMatter, #Anarchy – blah, blah, blah! I have absolutely nothing to say on any of these topics right now which haven’t already been beat into the damn ground.

But then, I thought about America. What America is to me. What I miss about our country – the greatest country on the face of the earth. The things which are not happening today with the re-tightening of COVID-19 lockdowns. There are so many things which are not happening today which really are part of the fabric of this great republic. Things which are unique to the America we all love. Things we do which sets us apart from any other country on the face of the planet. Let’s look at a few.

Major League Baseball

You inevitably do not know this about me. Your favorite Grey Beard Biker grew up playing baseball. From Little League through high school and then adult hardball. I was a catcher from the beginning, always wanting to be involved in nearly every play, calling the pitches and most importantly wearing the cool protective gear. Since the early 1970s I remember going to St. Louis Cardinals’ baseball games – and I would get especially excited when they were playing our arch rivals – those lowly baby bears – the Chicago Cubs. I devoured baseball stats and had my player heroes throughout many years: Johnny Bench, Ted Simmons, Lou Brock, Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Dizzy Dean, Babe Ruth and of course Jackie Robinson (God Rest His Soul)! And the baseball cards. Does anyone else remember riding their bike to the corner store, buying a pack of Topps baseball cards, putting that paper-thin piece of rock hard gum in their mouth (it would shatter) and trading the cards you didn’t want with your little buddies? Man, I sure do.

Major League Baseball has been called the Great American Past Time for years – often being compared to apple pie. For many Americans, Spring Training is a great distraction from the winter doldrums. It is almost a national holiday for me when pitchers and catchers report in late February. And when Opening Day takes place, I almost always take the day off to watch my beloved Cardinals play on MLB At Bat. And you can count on me playing this song at some point during the day as it reminds me of MLB because Mastercard used to be the primary sponsor of the MLB:

Mastercard – MLB – The Summer Wind

Over the past couple of weeks, MLB and the Major League Baseball Players’ Union have come to an agreement to start the season during the last week of July – probably the last Friday of the month. This is great news. They have made some significant rules changes and also changed the playoffs, but we will be playing ball soon. This is good news. Even though the season will start out without fans in the stadiums, we will still hear, “Play ball!” resounding through our TVs.

Motorcycle Rallies & Events

Fortunately, for a biker like me, most of the rallies occur during the summer months. Rallies and other biker events, like MLB, mean summer is upon us and as bikers are a most patriotic group of Americans, the Stars and Stripes are proudly waving everywhere you look. This is America! The largest rallies, Laconia Motorcycle Week and Sturgis Motorcycle Rally are still taking place, although Laconia has been postponed until August. I have already missed one of my favorite American Flat Track races, the Red Mile, in Lexington, Kentucky, because it was canceled. There have been dozens of other events canceled too. And I cannot help but think this damned COVID-19 thingy is a #COVIDHoax! When these cancellations take place, millions of dollars of tax revenues do not flow into the cities and the states. Liberal governors and mayors are to blame for this.

Fortunately, there is still a full slate of rallies to go to and me and my lady have booked rooms for The Race of Gentlemen, in Wildwood, New Jersey, the last weekend of September. Hopefully we will see some of y’all there. It is truly an American biker/hotrod event and the Stars and Stripes will also be on full display there. Check out my video from a couple of years ago from T.R.O.G.:

The Race of Gentlemen – T.R.O.G.

Summer Vacations & Cookouts

I have pretty much ignored social distancing and shelter-in-place orders since the advent of them caused me to begin a constant Ground Hog Day loop. But even though I am a old damned Granite Head, and ignored the things I was ordered to do, it seemed like I was living in a suspended state of animation.

Summer for me means lots of trips. They may be weekend trips like last weekend’s 950-mile ride to the North Georgia mountains, the Blue Ridge Parkway and The Great Smoky Mountains. While I made this trip alone, I met lots of other bikers, smoked plenty of awesome cigars and slept like a baby every night.

But because of my Granite Headedness, I am doing things which many fellow Americans either can’t do – or won’t do. And those of you that are not grabbing life by the proverbial balls, I feel for you. Get out and live life. I still believe we need not let this #ChinaVirus cause us to lose our identities – and the things we love. Someone very dear to me told me recently, “I feel like life is passing me by.” While I haven’t let anything pass me by, many of you have. Don’t let this happen to you. Get on with your life. Take your summer vacations. Invite all of your friends over for a cookout and pool party. Don’t let this weird 2020 go by without doing the things you love.

Grey Beard Biker’s Must Do Thingys:

I never write an opinion piece without offering some sage advice on what all y’all should do. And this opinion rant is no different. So here are some things which we all need to do. It will help the economy and most importantly it will help Keep America Great – #KAG On!:

  1. Support your local MLB teams, and when they allow fans back in the stadiums, buy tickets!
  2. If you are a biker, reserve a room and attend a rally. If you want to meet the original Grey Beard Biker, and his amazingly gorgeous and beautiful true love, reserve your room for The Race of Gentlemen and buy your weekend passes!
  3. Buy 30 pounds of hamburgers and 200 hot dogs, along with 12 bags of chips, 10 pounds of Muzzie deterrent bacon (for the burgers) and invite your entire neighborhood and all of your friends over for a cookout.
  4. Plan your vacation and spend lots of good old greenbacks with locally owned businesses – they need YOU!
  5. Go to the beach and get a tan
  6. Throw a huge pool party and serve a few adult beverages
  7. Get your fireworks and have a blast on the 4th of July (or go to the fireworks display if you are fortunate enough to live in a #RedState like I do)
  8. Go to the park with your dog, lover or both (you know I will be doing this)
  9. Take a long hike in the woods with that special person (you know I will be doing this)
  10. Ride your damn motorcycle and make sure to give the biker wave to other bikers – I always do this
Grey Beard Biker’s Patented Biker Wave (LMBFBAO!)

Until next time, bikers and great Patriot friends, enjoy life – don’t let it pass you by. And most importantly for you biker brother and sisters – keep the shiny side to the sun and dress for the slide not the ride.

The Grey Beard Biker™️
gbb@TheGreyBeardBiker.com
@Biker4Life on Gab

This is an exclusive Grey Beard Biker opinion piece. All opinions are his and his only. If you do not agree with them, please hop on your girly Honda Grom and motor away. – GBB

On May 25, 2020 George Floyd was arrested for allegedly trying to make a purchase using counterfeit currency in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Unfortunately, after being cuffed and placed in the back of a police cruiser, he became unruly kicking the inside of the car, etc. He was pulled out of the cruiser and placed on the ground where an officer kneeled on his neck – and according to eyewitness accounts a knee was also on his back in the area of his diaphragm. He died after several minutes – and this was a true tragedy since Mr. Floyd was being arrested for trying to pass a fake $20 bill. But with every tragedy there is a lesson to learn. Mr. Floyd was not submitting to the police and was not following orders. But, at the end of the day, he should not have died. There were other options such as restraining his legs and promptly delivering him to the jail.

Promptly after Mr. Floyd’s unnecessary death nationwide protests broke out in major cities across the country including, but not limited to: Minneapolis, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Louisville and Nashville. These protests brought in the most unsavory characters from groups such as Black Lives Matter (#BLM) and Antifa (#Antifa). While some of the protests started peacefully, many erupted in violence as masked Antifa members burned businesses, cars and injured police officers. These assnozzle low life street thugs, who the day before were reclining on a couch in their mommy’s basement, eating Skittles, answered the call and showed up – I am sure excited to take part in the destruction of personal property and locally owned businesses.

Funding the move to Anarchy

These damn street thugs did not magically appear in hours in cities across the United States. Black Lives Matter and Antifa, are at best, loosely held and managed terrorist organizations. One would wonder, including Grey Beard, if they are registered with the IRS, pay income taxes or employee taxes. It is highly improbable they are 501(c)(3) organizations and tax exempt. It is even more unlikely that they have the financial resources to fund the travel of their masked minions to arrive in cities separated by hundreds if not thousands of miles. And the really curious thing about this is that with so many of these masked cowards (anyone wearing a mask when protesting is the very definition of a damned coward) it would be very difficult for them to arrive when, and where, they are needed.

And while arriving in a large American metropolitan area at just the right time and in the right place to protest, is rather curious, it is not the most curious thing. How did pallets of bottled water, snacks and bricks magically appear for them to use in their anarchical pursuits of injury, death and destruction? Did they magically fall by the pallet load from Black Lives Matter Airlines planes? Being that #BLM does not have properly tail numbered planes flying around this country, this is obviously not how it happened.

So what did happen? There has to be a large funding source. Granted there are donations flowing in from Hollywood celebrities, social justice warriors and other #Leftist assnozzles. But this is not the type of regular large scale funding necessary to carry the protests on for weeks. Could it be the original Marxist douchebag George Soros? He has billions of dollars at his disposal, he hates America, he hates our systems and longs for a state of socialism to exist here – and I am not talking about Democratic Socialism of the ilk of Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. What Soros wants is confusion, fear and uncertainty to proliferate the American electorate ahead of the 2020 General Election. And through shell companies and offshore accounts the money transfer to these terror organizations is not difficult to hide.

Current State of Anarchy in America

With the additional death of Rayshard Brooks, on June 12, 2020, at the hands of a white Atlanta police officer, more fuel has been added to the anarchical fires of #BLM and #Antifa. But, while Floyd’s death was an unnecessary tragedy, Brooks’ death was simply the result of his actions. Police found him passed out in his car in a Wendy’s drive through – quite obviously intoxicated. His criminal past (which the police were probably aware of) included four convictions: false imprisonment, simple battery/family, battery simple and felony cruelty/cruelty to children – all of which he was on probation for. He had voluntarily submitted to a field sobriety test – which he failed. Obviously fearful of being arrested for DUI, a charge by itself which would inevitably have caused his probation to be revoked, sending him to prison for a very long time, he decided to make a break for it, stealing the taser off the officer’s belt before turning on the officer. In a split second, the officer used fatal force to stop a potentially life-threatening injury or death to him or his partner. A taser is not necessarily considered a deadly weapon, but it would have incapacitated the officer making his gun an easy target to kill the officer(s). This officer used deadly force in a situation which called for it. If Rayshard Brooks had followed instructions, he may have spent a long time in prison, but would not have been another senseless loss of life. Here is some very sage advice from GBB: If you are in an encounter with the police – do what you are told. No more, no less.

Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone – Seattle Washington

Brooks’ death was avoidable. It has now caused more injuries and destruction in another city: Atlanta. Those who are continuing to protest are getting more bold setting up an autonomous zone – which is police free – in Seattle. They are living in squalor and filth. They are taunting police and citizens. Businesses are closed for fear of opening in the presence of masked street thugs. As things stand today, more bricks, water and supplies will magically arrive in whatever city the #Anarchists decide to target next. More police officers will be taunted into using force to protect themselves and the riots will continue.

What Should Be Done to Take American Streets Back?

As you know, having read my posts before, I will not throw a bunch of ranting opinions against the wall without providing some thoughts of what I believe to be a solution. These anarchical enclaves are in cities, and in most cases states, with very #Leftist politicians. These politicians are turning their backs on their constituents and allowing this confusion, fear and uncertainty to linger. They have recognized that COVID-19 was not going to destroy Donald J. Trump’s reelection chances. They started pushing for the mail-in-ballot during the Chinese Wuhan virus (yes, damn it, I said it: CHINA VIRUS) and have recognized they will not get it from Coronavirus. But these Libturd politicians are latching onto the spreading #Anarchy and race baiting to create the fear necessary to push again for the mail-in-ballot – the only way they believe they can beat President Trump. And worst, because they are devoted to removing Trump, these mayors and governors will continue to stand down their police and allow the destruction and injuries to mount.

Our solutions are limited at this point:

  1. Use the full resources of the FBI, DEA and BATFE to investigate the origins of the money funding these illegal riots. Perhaps it leads to Soros, or perhaps to the illicit sales of drugs and firearms. There is no reason to doubt that this is going on now, but it may take months to end the funding of this domestic terrorism. (Drawback: this takes too much time – time we don’t have)
  2. Governors from conservative states can activate their National Guards and send them into areas with the most terrorism occurring, but besides the District of Columbia, the states these guardsmen and women will need to deploy to have their own guards commanded by the liberal governors. The presence of guards from other states will be challenged in the court systems. (Drawback legal delays as it works through the court systems)
  3. Donald Trump can federalize National Guard units from any states he chooses and send them to the cities controlled by the #Anarchists. These part time soldiers would inevitably cause a reduction in the violence and crime. (Drawback: time to nationalize and assemble the citizen soldiers)
  4. Donald Trump can activate regular army units like the 82nd Airborne or 101st Air Assault divisions and send them into the zones of insurrection where #Anarchists are flaunting Federal and state laws. These troops would cause #BLM and #Antifa to scatter like chaff in a tornado. There is no way these little masked boys and girls will stick around when they see the U.S. Army arriving at their autonomous zone. (Drawback: activating regular forces would smack of near despotism on Donald Trump’s part with a large portion of the electorate)

While recently, it has been reported that Bikers For Trump and Oathkeepers have planned on being in Seattle to break up the autonomous zone, and there is not doubt a bunch of us bikers, and I would want to be there with them, could clear them out, they will inevitably be arrested by the local police.

This leaves me with one solution to taking back American cities plagued by #Anarchists and social justice warriors. #3 above: Federalize several of the state national guard units and send them into the areas of rioting. It will work and can work quickly enough to prevent anarchy also ruling at our polls in November.

What are your thoughts?

The Grey Beard Biker™️
gbb@TheGreyBeardBiker.com
@Biker4Life on Gab

Today June 6, marks the 76th anniversary of D-Day at Normandy. By the early summer of 1944, the U.S. had been embroiled in World War II for over two years. As a country, we had been against entry into the war until the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Everything changed on that day, with congress approving a war declaration and F.D.R. declaring war on Japan, shortly after Pearl Harbor. That would lead to Hitler declaring war on the United States. It was truly a World War and the United States was in it.

Prelude to War in Europe

Britain had long wanted the U.S. to join the fight in Europe against the Axis Powers – Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Vichy French troops. Until Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt could not be swayed. The U.S. had firmly entrenched itself as committed to be a neutral non-interventionist in Europe. After much prodding from Winston Churchill, Roosevelt signed the Lend Lease Act, in March 1941, which pledged support in the form of war ships and military equipment to the primary European Allies – Britain and Russia. Pearl Harbor would be the impetus which would lead to our joining the fight in the Pacific – with the Battle of the Coral Sea, Battle of Midway and Battle of Guadalcanal in early 1942 and the invasion of Vichy held northwest Africa (Operation Torch) in November 1942. The ultimate goal of Torch was to push west to Tunisia, trapping the Axis troops (German and Italian) on the peninsula at Tunis and forcing the surrender of the Afrika Korps, under the command Field Marshall Erwin Rommel. The Allied forces battling Afrika Korps would come from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Free France.

Roosevelt, all along, believed that the primary objective for the European theater should be Berlin, Germany – the headquarters of the Third Reich. He disagreed with Churchill, and the other leaders of the Allies, in an approach to Europe through Africa and southern France. F.D.R. believed that the quickest path to victory would be a straight line – and the straightest line led through northern France to Berlin. While true, the planning and build up to a cross-channel invasion would take years – years that homeland Britain, and Russia, did not have. Britain was being bombed daily from western Europe and Russia was being pummeled by Germany on the Eastern Front. After much prodding from Churchill, and Stalin, about the merits of striking the “soft underbelly” of the Axis in North Africa and Southern France, Roosevelt agreed to the invasions. This would allow the Allies to divert – or at least occupy – German forces on the two fronts in Europe, while the build up for the cross-channel invasion was completed.

None of the Allied leaders believed that the path to southern Europe, and the “soft underbelly” of the Axis, would take so long and cost so much. Ultimately that path would lead through the major battles of Africa, Sicily, southern Italy and southern France. The cost in blood would be staggering with the Allies suffering over 63,000 killed in action and nearly 340,000 missing or wounded. Battles would be named for locales which most Americans had never heard of: Oran, Kasserine Pass, Tunis, Salerno, Anzio, Monte Cassino, Ley Muy, Saint Tropez, Saint Raphael, Marseille and Toulon. The strategic goal of diverting Axis troops to the southern front was largely unsuccessful. Bombings continued unabated in Britain and Russian forces had their hands full on the Eastern Front. However, the invasions of North Africa, Sicily, southern Italy, Anzio and southern France benefitted the Allies significantly. These invasions all required huge flotillas, airborne infantry units penetrating behind enemy lines and immense beach landings of infantry, engineers and armored forces. Lessons learned during this time would prove essential for military planners preparing for the cross-channel invasion of Europe – code named: Operation Overlord.

Planning for Operation Overlord

Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower

Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces (SHAEF) was responsible for the planning and execution of Operation Overlord. Supreme Allied Commander, U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, was in overall command with British Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery being in command of the overall European Theater. Forces involved would come from: the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Poland, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Czechkosolovakia, Luxembourg, Greece, Netherlands and Norway.

Inevitably, Hitler knew the Allies were planning an invasion from England. But he assumed it would be at Pas de Calais – the closest point of continental Europe across the English Channel – and the launch site for V-1 and V-2 rockets which continued to bombard London. With this in mind, Hitler ordered this region heavily fortified. He was unaware that Allied planners had chosen Normandy because of its geography – there were less rivers and canals in the area so a broad front of Allied soldiers could mass after the landing. Additionally, the proximity of Normandy to the port of Cherbourg, in the American sector, and Brittany, in the English sector, made Normandy more appealing. The Allied Expeditionary Forces would require massive amounts of supplies, armored vehicles, clothing, ammunition and fuel. Opening a broad beachhead at Normandy would satisfy their port requirements – to a degree – once the Americans opened the port at Cherbourg.

The Allied planners agreed that there would be three phases of the cross-channel invasion:

  1. Allied bombing raids would target rail lines, German manufacturing, fuel supplies and airfields. Codenamed Operation Point Blank, these bombing raids were designed to prevent quick reinforcement of Axis lines from the south and ensure air superiority over Normandy
  2. Airborne infantry would drop behind Axis lines several hours before the beach landings to tie up some of the German defenses and open up pathways to the interior for infantry landing on the beaches.
  3. Seaborne landings would begin on June 5 (later postponed to June 6 due to low cloud ceiling preventing airborne transport planes from dropping their sticks accurately) with First Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Omar Bradley, landing on the two western beaches (Utah and Omaha) and Second Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Miles Dempsey, landing at the three eastern beaches (Gold, Juno and Sword). Bradley’s First Army would include the American V Corps and VII Corps. Dempsey’s Second Army would include British I Corps, XXX Corps and the First Canadian Army. Included with the First Canadian would be troops from Poland, Netherlands and Belgium.

The objective for Operation Overlord was for Bradley’s First Army to quickly cut off the Cotentin Peninsula and capture the port of Cherbourg. The U.S. Airborne troops, consisting of the 82nd Airborne Division, commanded by Major General Matthew Ridgeway, and the 101st Airborne Division, commanded by Brigadier General Maxwell Taylor, would be transported on 432 C-47 planes and were tasked with opening the beach causeways and blocking German reinforcements coming from the east towards Carentan. The British airborne force included Major General Richard Nelson Gale’s 6th Airborne Division which would drop near Caen. They were tasked with capturing two bridges over the Caen Canal and Orne River, allowing ingress of troops once the Normandy beachhead was established.

D-Day at Normandy

Troop Ships in the English Channel steaming to Normandy

Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower communicated by letter with all Allied forces on the afternoon of June 5:

“You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.”

At 22:30 on June 5, the C-47s containing the U.S. Airborne troops began taking off from airfields in Great Britain. These serials would continue departing over the next hour. Entering France from the west, the C-47s decreased their altitude from 1,500 feet to 500 feet. Despite precise planning, the transports quickly scattered due to a solid cloud bank, heavy German anti-aircraft (flak) fire and unmarked/improperly marked drop zones. The two airborne divisions would take the better part of two days to organize.

Preliminary naval bombardment of the Atlantic Wall defenses began at 05:45 and continued until 06:25. Five battleships, 20 cruisers and 65 destroyers would fire tons of heavy naval ordnance with minimal damage being done to the Atlantic Wall defenses.

Overnight, infantry began departing the shores of Great Britain for their voyage across the English Channel. Code named Operation Neptune, the beach landing armada would include nearly 7,000 vessels – 1,213 of which were naval warships, 4,126 landing ships/crafts and nearly 900 merchant ships.

Airborne Infantry entering Normandy

The first troop landings began at 06:30 with the U.S. 4th Infantry Division landing around 1/2 mile south of their planned landing zone. Commanded on D-Day by Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr., son of President Teddy Roosevelt, the 4th Division would meet only minor resistance forming their beachhead. Suffering approximate 200 casualties, by the end of D-Day, they would push four clicks ashore by nightfall. Roosevelt would be the only general officer to land by sea on D-Day and would survive just over one month, dying on July 12 of a heart attack.

With the scattered nature of the U.S. Airborne drops – only 10% of the assault forces would actually land in their assigned drop zones – confusion ruled the early fighting. The 82nd Airborne Division would capture Sainte-Mere Eglise, but its failure to capture the crossing of River Merderet would result in a delay sealing off the Cotentin Peninsula. The 101st Airborne Division, The Screaming Eagles, would capture a crossing of the River Douve, near Caretan, somewhat protecting the southern flank.

Infantry rushing the beaches of Normandy

Meanwhile, the more heavily defended landing at Omaha Beach was assigned to the U.S. 1st and 29th infantry divisions. Unknowingly, these troops were not facing a single German regiment, but the entire 352nd Nazi German Division. Casualties at Omaha Beach would be greater than all other landing zones combined as they faced concentrated artillery and machine gun fire from heavily fortified pillboxes along the heights overlooking the beach. By 08:30, landings would have to be delayed as beach obstructions were causing havoc along the entry points to the beach. Complicating matters were the scant five exit gullies from the beach – the only way to reach high ground. By noon, infantry, aided by naval gunfire, had started reaching the German defenses – which were beginning to run out of ammunition. The beachhead would remain quite tenuous over the coming days with D-Day objectives pushing out to D+3.

Infantry forces landing at Normandy

Second Army landings at Gold and Juno would be complicated by high seas and wind. Landings at Sword would be more successful with tanks and infantry clearing a significant beachhead and supporting the delayed landings at Gold and Juno.

Over the coming days, man made harbors would begin to be assembled to allow supply ships, infantry and tanks to continue the buildup at Normandy and supply food, medical supplies, ammunition and much needed fuel. The armada of military vehicles and tanks pushing into Normandy would eclipse 10,000 by D+1.

Infantry landing at Normandy

While the initial objectives of D-Day were only partially met, it would prove a singular success over the intervening years. The beachheads would continue to grow, with each passing day, allowing nearly 1.5 million Allied troops to enter France by July 25th and over 2 million by September 1st. But the cost would be extremely high on both sides. The butcher’s bill on D-Day alone, would climb to over 10,000 Allied troops – with 4,414 killed in action (KIA). Additionally 185 Sherman tanks would be lost, including most of their crews, landing at the beaches. Some of these tanks had been modified to disembark in deep water and push ashore via propellers. This proved folly, as most all of the “amphibious” tanks would never reach shore.

The Nazi German toll on D-Day is unknown, but estimated to be between 4,000 and 10,000. Many of these would be captured and sent to prisoner of war camps in the United Kingdom and the United States. Given the defenses along the Atlantic Wall, the lower casualties of Axis troops was expected.

The United States paid the highest price on D-Day. All told, recently updated casualty figures, from the US National D-Day Memorial Foundation, have confirmed 6,603 total U.S. casualties, with 1,914 KIA. The stiff resistance at Omaha Beach is where the majority of these casualties occurred.

The Grey Beard Biker’s respect for all veterans, current members of our armed forces and especially those airborne troops, infantry troops, army air force troops and sailors who took part on D-Day knows no bounds. While the veterans of WW II are called the Greatest Generation, Grey Beard views all who have signed their contract with the U.S. armed forces, in blood, to be greater than great. God Bless the United States, her allies and especially our troops in harm’s way!

The Grey Beard Biker™️
gbb@TheGreyBeardBiker.com
@Biker4Life on Gab