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TO COMMEMORATE THE COURAGEOUS MEN WHO SERVED IN THE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES DURING WORLD WAR II AND FOUGHT IN THE INVASION OF NORMANDY, ALSO KNOWN AS "D-DAY", ON JUNE 6, 1944, AND TO THANK THEM FOR THEIR LABORS AND SACRIFICE FOR THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM.
Whereas, the South Carolina House of Representatives, with great respect, pauses in its deliberations to acknowledge the great debt present-day Americans owe to those servicemen who fought in that pivotal World War II battle known as "D-Day", or the Invasion of Normandy; and
Whereas, at the beginning of World War II, Germany invaded Poland, causing France, Great Britain, and Canada to declare war on Germany. By the spring of 1940, the German army was ready to invade France, which was defended by not only the French military but also a sizable British force. Within six weeks, the Germans defeated the Allies and seized control of France; and
Whereas, by 1944, the Germans knew that the Allies, which now included the United States, would attempt an invasion of France to liberate Europe from Germany. Based in Britain, the Allied forces decided to begin the invasion by landing a huge army at a place called Normandy Beach on the northwest coast of France; and
Whereas, on June 6, 1944, 160,000 Allied troops landed along a fifty-mile stretch of heavily fortified French coastline to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy. General Dwight D. Eisenhower of the United States called the operation a crusade in which "we will accept nothing less than full victory." More than five thousand ships and thirteen thousand aircraft supported the D-Day invasion, and by day's end on June 6, the Allies had gained a foothold in Normandy. The cost was high--more than nine thousand Allied soldiers were killed or wounded--but more than 100,000 soldiers began the march across Europe to defeat Hitler; and
Whereas, the German failure to successfully defend the Normandy area from the Allied liberation forces in essence doomed Hitler's dream of a Nazi-controlled "Fortress Europe" and marked the beginning of the end for Germany and the beginning of real hope for freedom for those oppressed by Nazi Germany; and
Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, on behalf of all South Carolinians, acknowledge with deep appreciation the great work the men of the United States Armed Forces helped begin on D-Day, a work that ultimately resulted in the liberation of millions held in bondage and the preservation of freedom for millions more. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:
That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, commemorate the courageous men who served in the United States Armed Forces during World War II and fought in the Invasion of Normandy, also known as "D-Day", on June 6, 1944, and thank them for their labors and sacrifice for the cause of freedom.
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