Omaha Beach Was Hell

Not all beaches were equal. Omaha Beach was a killing field:

• German defenders occupied 100-foot cliffs overlooking the beach with interlocking fields of fire
• The pre-invasion bombing missed entirely due to cloud cover
• Tanks sank in rough seas — 27 of 29 amphibious Sherman tanks went down before reaching shore
• Casualties in the first wave reached 90% in some companies

For hours, soldiers huddled behind steel beach obstacles while machine gun fire shredded everything above knee height. 2,400 Americans were killed or wounded on Omaha alone. Small groups of survivors eventually fought their way up the bluffs through raw courage and desperation.