Letter from SHAEF

Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! 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.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped, and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely.

But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to Victory!

I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory!Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.

General Dwight Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander

Addressing the Allied Forces on the eve of D-Day

On June 6th, 1944, the Allied Infantry and Armored Units battled their way ashore into Normandy face-to-face against the fierce resistence of the German defenders that manned the Atlantic Wall, Germany's first line of defense on the western border of "Fortress Europe."

Breaching the Atlantic Wall on D-Day and gaining a foothold in occupied Europe was an all or nothing gamble. If the Allies succeeded, then they would be established in western Europe and the liberation of the occupied territories could begin. If they failed, it would have been nothing short of a catastrophe, prolonging the bitter fighting, or changing the outcome of the war entirely.

The largest amphibious invasion in the history of warfare began in the early morning hours of June 6th, 1944. The outcome of that operation, codenamed "Overlord," would change the face of the world forever.

Young men from many nations began this great undertaking as a single determined force. They came from the sky, they came from the sea, they fought in the air, they battled on the water.

What many of them faced when they finally arrived can only be described as total chaos and terror. The beaches of Normandy had been long prepared for an Allied invasion by the German defenders, and the young men serving the Allied forces had no choice but to wade into the terrifying defenses headlong and fight to the end.

Their bravery, valor, and sacrifice made an Allied victory on that day possible, and set into motion the liberation of Europe, laying the most significant building blocks that would build the end of WWII.

This was a generation of brave young men that did no less than save the world. We honor their memory at Oklahoma D-Day through the units represented on the field of play.