D-Day Preserved
An underwater survey project reminds us of past valor.
By Col. Warren S. Lacy, USA-Ret.

On a single day more than half a century ago, 156,000 American, British, Canadian, free French, and Polish troops—a number equal to the population of Springfield, Mass.—landed in the province of Normandy, France. The invasion was one of the bloodiest of the war. Allied paratroopers filled the skies, and soldiers stormed ashore along a 60-mile stretch of beach in what would be one of the greatest amphibious operations in military history.

“It was D-Day, June 6, 1944, and the Allies had launched their campaign to liberate France and overthrow Nazi Germany.” (The Retired Officer Magazine, “The Voices of D-Day,” by Bob Wacker, June 1994.)

Ten years have passed since The Retired Officer Magazine, now Military Officer, printed those words. In 10 years many things change: photographs fade, sunken ships silt over, abandoned vehicles rust, and memories grow dim. We can restore photographs and remove silt and rust, but how do we preserve memories? And more important, how do we touch a generation of Americans who have grown up largely unaware of the implications of a war that in many ways defined the character of our nation?
 
In the past year we’ve covered several programs that recognize the World War II generation, both military and civilian. In last month’s issue, we talked about the dedication of the World War II Memorial. This month we visit D-Day 60 years later. We planned our coverage both to recognize those who served and sacrificed at the time and to remind younger generations of this seminal event in American history.
Our first article, “Remember, this is an invasion,” (page 58) presents a selection of famous D-Day photographs. The prints may have faded, but their impact remains vivid.

We also show you D-Day present. Our feature “Neptune’s Treasures” (page 66) takes us underwater to visit tanks, destroyers, minesweepers, ocean tugs, transports, landing craft, and other physical remainders (and reminders) of the Normandy invasion. The project’s goal is to locate various craft lost during Operation Neptune, the naval portion of Overlord.

The impact of the Normandy Survey Project, however, goes beyond the physical accounting for ships and other artifacts of war. Its greater value is to preserve memories and to remind current generations of the cost of freedom.

“The wrecks [off Normandy] represent the will of the people to defeat tyranny,” says Brett Phaneuf, research associate and project director with the Institute of Nautical Archeology at Texas A&M University. “These ships are the material representation of that force of will to liberate France and to end the tyranny of the Nazi regime. They are the physical manifestation of the lives lost and the sacrifice that was made for freedom.”