Andared

As I write, it is June 6th, 2019. 75 years ago today a multinational force of free men threw themselves onto heavily defended beaches in the Normandy region of France. The Nazi forces defending those beaches had had years to prepare their defenses and had used that time well. Artillery had already been ranged on potential landing areas, machine guns had been placed to sweep every inch of the beaches with interlocking fields of fire, and landmines had been positioned to channel allied troops into the machine gun fire. The beaches of Normandy had been turned into vast killing zones. The American, British, Free French and Canadian troops in the landing craft knew this and so did the troops from the many other nations in the landing force. They attacked anyway. Granted, many of them had been drafted into military service, but many had volunteered. Of those that had been pressed into service very few had refused to answer the call, fewer still actually tried to avoid that service. Draftees