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USA Today
2 days ago
- Politics
- USA Today
D-Day was 'not a pleasant day for you,' Trump tells German leader
D-Day was 'not a pleasant day for you,' Trump tells German leader German Chancellor Friedrich Merz noted the June 6 D-Day anniversary while pressing Trump to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Show Caption Hide Caption Listen to what the WWII Allies heard on D-Day 75 years ago, General Eisenhower addressed thousands of WWII Allied troops before they stormed Nazi troops on the beaches of Normandy, France. USA TODAY Trump said D-Day was "not a great day" for Germany. Merz replied the Normandy invasion marked "the liberation of my country from a Nazi dictator.' WASHINGTON −Another day, another startled leader in the Oval Office. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz attempted to provide President Donald Trump with some positive reinforcement by crediting Americans for ending a war in Europe during his visit to the White House on June 5. He reminded Trump their meeting was taking place a day before the 81st anniversary of D-Day, when Allied forces, most of them U.S. troops, invaded Normandy, France, marking the beginning of the end of World War II and the defeat of Nazi Germany. More: 'We had a job' to do: Humble veteran, 100, recalls D-Day 81 years later The U.S. could play such a role in the Russia-Ukraine war, said Merz. "We are having June 6th tomorrow, this is D-Day anniversary, when the Americans once ended a war in Europe," Merz said. "That was not a pleasant day for you," Trump responded. "This was not a great day.' More: 'Sometimes you have to let them fight': Trump compares Russia, Ukraine to brawling children Merz replied: 'In the long run, Mr. President, this was the liberation of my country from a Nazi dictator.' D-Day, on June 6, 1944, marked a pivotal moment in World War II, bringing together the land, air and sea forces of the Allied armies in the largest amphibious invasion in history. Nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed on D-Day - more than 4,400 of whom died in the assault. The German leader was in town to talk about a range of issues from increased NATO spending, trade and applying 'more pressure on Russia' to end its three-year-old war on Ukraine. More: WWII bombs found in Cologne, Germany prompt evacuations 'We know what we owe you… this is the reason why I'm saying that America is again in a very strong position to do something on this war and ending this war,' he said. Merz was not the first world leader to encounter an awkward situation in the Oval Office. Last month, Trump confronted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office saying White South Africans are the victims of 'genocide' – an accusation the South African government and human rights experts say is not supported by evidence. And in April, Trump and Vice President JD Vance ambushed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before live cameras in the Oval Office, accusing him of ingratitude for U.S. support.
USA Today
2 days ago
- General
- USA Today
D-Day in photos: See historic images from the Normandy landings
D-Day in photos: See historic images from the Normandy landings Show Caption Hide Caption Listen to what the WWII Allies heard on D-Day 75 years ago, General Eisenhower addressed thousands of WWII Allied troops before they stormed Nazi troops on the beaches of Normandy, France. USA TODAY Friday, June 6, marks 81 years since the allied forces of World War II stormed the beaches of Normandy, France on D-Day. The amphibious assault – codenamed Operation Overlord – involved landing more than 155,000 Allied soldiers on the French beaches, resulting in 4,427 casualties – according to the National D-Day Memorial Foundation. The plan for the attack across the English Channel was put in motion at the Tehran Conference in 1943, where Allied leaders chose American general Dwight Eisenhower as Supreme Allied Commander for the operation. Omaha Beach, the second to the west of the five landing beaches, saw the bloodiest fighting of the battle, with American forces seeing 2,400 casualties – according to Encyclopedia Brittanica. The invasion marked the turning point in the European theater, as Paris would be liberated by the end of August, 1944 and Nazi Germany would surrender less than a year later, according to Here are historic photos from D-Day. See D-Day in historic photos From the USA TODAY Network: 'Welcome home': Iowan killed on D-Day to be buried on 81st anniversary of his death
USA Today
2 days ago
- General
- USA Today
'We had a job' to do: Humble veteran, 100, recalls D-Day 81 years later
'We had a job' to do: Humble veteran, 100, recalls D-Day 81 years later Show Caption Hide Caption D-Day speech asked WWII Allies to save world More than seven decades ago, General Eisenhower addressed thousands of WWII Allied troops before they stormed Nazi troops on the beaches of Normandy, France. USA TODAY The numbers are staggering: 160,000 Allied troops. Five thousand ships and 13,000 aircraft. All to take a heavily fortified 50-mile stretch of French shoreline, a herculean effort to reclaim a critical part of Europe from the Nazis and turn the tide of the most horrific war the world had ever seen. On June 6, 1944 − D-Day − World War II's invasion of Normandy, codenamed Operation Overlord, got underway. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, told the men as they mobilized for battle: "The eyes of the world are upon you. ... The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you." Tolley Fletcher, at the time a 19-year-old Navy gunner's mate, remembered the rough seas and the treacherous landing troops at Utah Beach had to make in 3- to 4-foot waves, each carrying about 60 pounds of gear on their backs and descending on rope ladders from larger ships onto smaller landing crafts. "I felt for those soldiers," Fletcher, now 100 years old, told USA TODAY. "In my mind, that was the worst part, other than people getting hurt." Fletcher, who joined the Navy at 17 in late December 1941, said he and his shipmates were fortunate to be mostly out of the line of fire. "There was some shelling, not really a lot, and luckily we didn't get hit. "Maybe halfway in, we started seeing lots of bodies in the water," said Fletcher, who now lives in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, area. "I was asked (later) what we did about it. We didn't do anything about it − we had a job: to escort those troops to the beach." On D-Day, "that's what these guys faced," said Peter Donovan Crean Sr., vice president for education and access at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. "They knew they were in the presence of history. Soldiers, sailors, Marines − they knew what they were doing was going to go down in history, which also meant they knew the danger involved. "Guys who were 18, 19, 20 years old were faced with the possibility of their death, but they did it anyway." As we mark the 81st anniversary of D-Day, here is a look at what happened on the beaches of Normandy, the men who fought knowing they might not survive to see victory and the way it affected the Allies' fight to defeat fascism, genocide and tyranny. What happened on D-Day? In order to defeat the Nazis in Europe, the Allies knew they'd have to take France, under German occupation since 1940. Operation Overlord saw a mobilization of 2,876,000 Allied troops in Southern England, as well as hundreds of ships and airplanes, in preparation for a ground invasion, the largest the world had seen. Weighing conditions including the weather, disagreements among other military leaders and strategic uncertainty, Eisenhower gave the go-ahead for the operation to begin before dawn on June 5, 1944. If things didn't go well for the Allies, Eisenhower wrote a note accepting responsibility. The following day, nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed along the 50-mile stretch of French shoreline. More than 9,000 Allied troops were killed or wounded, and 100,000 troops would continue the slow, bloody journey to Berlin, the center of German power. Why was it called D-Day? According to the U.S. Army, D-Day was "simply an alliteration, as in H-Hour." Some believe the first "D" also stands for "day," a code designation, while the French say the "D" stands for "disembarkation." The Army's website says that "the more poetic insist D-Day is short for 'day of decision.'" Asked in 1964, Eisenhower instructed his assistant Brig. Gen. Robert Schultz, to answer. Schultz wrote that "any amphibious operation has a 'departed date'; therefore the shortened term 'D-Day' is used.' What happened after D-Day? D-Day was not the only decisive battle of the European theater, Crean said. "It was a crucial battle but there were more ahead," he said. "They had 700 miles of tough road ahead to get to Berlin." The Battle of the Bulge, waged over 41 days in December 1944 and January 1945, required 700,000 Allied troops. "It was a tough slog for another 11 months," Crean said. Victory in Europe − V-E Day − would come on May 8, 1945, nearly a year after D-Day. The war wouldn't end until the Japanese surrendered on Sept. 2, 1945. How many World War II veterans remain in the U.S.? There are about 66,000 surviving World War II veterans in the United States, Crean said, and while that may sound like a lot, it's a tiny fraction of the 16.4 million who served their country in the conflict. "So to be able to talk to and thank one veteran now is a gift for any of us," Crean said. The National World War II Museum's mission "is more critical than ever ... so more people will understand what they did and continue to be inspired by their sacrifices," added Crean, a retired colonel with 30 years' service in the Army. The museum has had oral historians travel the country to record more than 12,000 personal stories from World War II veterans. They've conducted extensive interviews with veterans, Holocaust survivors and homefront workers and, using artificial intelligence, created a way for visitors to have "conversations" with them and ask questions to learn about the war effort. And they offer virtual programming, teacher training and a student leadership award. Fletcher, the Navy gunner's mate, said he's uncomfortable with the idea of being considered a hero. Asked about his role in history, he said, "I really didn't think about it then, and I don't think about it now, though it's been impressed upon me quite a bit. "When I think about what I went through, and what all the Army and the other men who were mixed up in really tough situations, it makes me feel a little bit guilty."
6 days ago
- Health
Documents of 1945 U.S. POW Vivisection Incident on Exhibit
Tokyo, June 3 (Jiji Press)--Documents related to a 1945 U.S. prisoner-of-war vivisection incident are on exhibit until June 22 at the medical history museum of Kyushu University in the southwestern Japan city of Fukuoka, in hopes of promoting medical and peace education by sharing lessons from the past. In the incident, eight captured U.S. soldiers died after undergoing experimental surgeries at Kyushu Imperial University, the predecessor of Kyushu University, in the late stages of World War II. Doctor Toshio Tono, who witnessed the surgeries as a medical student at the time, collected related documents before he died at the age of 95 in 2021. His family donated about 30 of the documents to the university in 2024, and some of the donated documents are now on display. The documents include a floor plan of a school building in which the location of the anatomy laboratory where the surgeries were conducted is written by hand, as well as a copy of a suicide note left by a surgeon involved in the incident who committed suicide after being arrested. After the war ended, Tono was questioned by the WWII Allies as a witness to the incident. He also testified at the trials of those involved. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
