Reflections and Analysis

The Lessons of D-Day | The Meaning of D-Day | Ethics

The Lessons of D-Day

Web Archive: "Operation Overlord" by Colonel John Osgood (ret.). Article examines D-Day's "strategic and operational setting," maneuvers, logistics and so forth.

In summary, the OVERLORD operation could have benefited from better operational planning. The failure to analyze key options and exploit fully certain operational advantages probably prolonged the war to some degree. While seemingly simple things such dealing with the hedgerow situation and giving more consideration as to which sector would best support Allied armor were missing from the plan, in balance OVERLORD must be viewed from an operation standpoint as one of history's greatest military achievements.

Lessons from Normandy by Ken Arnold. Touring the Normandy graves and battlefields, the author attempts to understand the meaning of D-day. Written and photographed by Ken Arnold.

Newsweek, "D-Day's Real Lessons" (subtitled "What Bush could learn from Churchill and FDR about his own fight") by Jon Meacham. This was one of the articles published in Newsweek's 60th Anniversary issue.

"Bush eschews complexity; FDR and Churchill embraced it. Bush prefers to decide, not go into details or revisit issues; FDR and Churchill were constantly examining their own assumptions and immersing themselves in postwar planning. Bush is largely incurious about the world; FDR and Churchill wanted to know everything."

The Meaning of D-Day

"Dear Adrien" by Rene Garrec. Reflections on D-Day by the President of the Regional Council of Lower Normandy case in the form of a letter to his grandson. Page courtesy Vivian Corbin's Pointe du Hoc page.

"D-Day named news event of the 20th century" from Canoe, a Canadian internet portal.

Ethics

The Ethics of Operation Cobra and the Normandy Breakout by Lieutenant Colonel James Jay Carafano, USA Executive Editor Joint Force Quarterly. Discusses Bradley's decision to bomb the area west St. Lo during the allied breakout from Normandy.