“We, the people of the City of New York, in meeting assembled, send forth our prayers to the Almighty God for the safety and spiritual welfare of every one of you and humbly petition Him to bring total victory to your arms in the great and valiant struggle for the liberation of the world from tyranny.”
– NYC Mayor Fiorello Henry La Guardia on D-Day
In the early hours of June 6, 1944, Americans learned of D-Day. Thousands of ships carrying British, American and Canadian forces had crossed the English Channel and landed on the beaches of Normandy. Codenamed Operation Overlord, the aim was simple: open a western front and force the German military to retreat.
British troops headed toward Caen, Americans right toward Utah and Omaha beaches nearer Cherbourg, and the Canadians to Juno Beach.
And then…
Within ten minutes of landing on Omaha Beach, every officer and sergeant of the 116th Regiment was dead or wounded. By 10:00 a.m., 300 men had somehow made it far enough to attack the German lines. By nightfall, 3,000 Americans had been killed.
In New York City people looked for news. The Daily News proclaimed in bold lettering: “INVASION BEGINS.” Crowds read the electronic ticker on the Times building on Times Square. They listed to speeches in Madison Square. Preschool age children at L’Ecole Maternelle Francaise saluted the French flag.
At the Saint Vincent de Paul’s Church and the synagogue on 23rd Street they prayed.
This was it. General Dwight D. Eisenhower had given the order of the day: “Full victory–nothing else.”
Howard Hollem, MacLaugharie and Edward Meyer, photographers for the Office of War Information. were there to record the longest day.
‘Darling, can a person live with tears, and longing and frustrating for years and not be changed by it? Do you know the quotation that says, ‘Tho a man be dead, yet shall he live”—I think I’ve come to know what that means these two years, as I watched my “20s” slip away, and realized that we have never yet had our chance, and have no hope of it for a long time. I am only living on the faith that God will give me a chance before it’s too late—a chance at a permanent home, children, a certain amount of financial security, and above all a chance to live with the man I love so devotedly, so completely—my husband.’
Martha Ware to her husband US Captain Robert Barnes Ware – June 4, 1944. He died 6, June 1944,
New York, New York. June 6, 1944. Mayor La Guardia at the D-day rally in Madison Square
PS: If ever you get the chance to visit Normandy and see the places where so much life was given for our freedom, grab it.
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