World War II Paper
FOCUS QUESTION 1. What steps led to American participation in World War II?

On June 6, 1944, the allied forces of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, free France, and Norway launched the single largest amphibious invasion in military history. It was an awe-inspiring undertaking and one of the most remembered events of the twentieth century. The American General Dwight D. Eisenhower, as Supreme Allied Commander, coordinated an incredible amount of resources, supplies, and soldiers from different nations in order to launch the attack that would force Germany to defend its western flank while at the same time it was fighting the Soviets to the east. And Eisenhower did this without showing his cards and tactics to the Nazis. That morning, President Roosevelt led the country in prayer. The president prayed for the soldiers and steadfast support from the American people. He ended with the following words.

\”With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace–a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God.

Amen.\”

Franklin Roosevelt, June 6, 1944

Loaded onto thousands of boats, and behind the machinery and firepower of the modern war, laid individual soldiers, who knew with almost perfect certainty that they and many of their friends would die on June 6, 1944, on a beach in northern France. Books and movies have tried to convey the scope and intensity of Operation Overlord with varying degrees of success. Indeed, this Primary Source Exercise attempts to allow more vivid and prompt reflection of that day, but the scope of World War II, much less the D-Day invasion, is almost too immense to comprehend.

DOCUMENTS

Document 1 is the speech drafted by General Eisenhower, in case of D-Day\’s failure. Eisenhower took the responsibility for his decisions very seriously, as exhibited by the note he carried with him at all times during the planning.

Document 2 is statistical information on the D-Day invasion. The numbers involved tell the story of how World War II was a war of the industrial era in all respects.

Document 3 is a series of photographs of scenes from the Normandy invasion.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Read Chapter 22, with special attention to Fighting World War II pp. 678-686. Read Document 1, analyze the statistical information in Document 2, and look at the photographs in Document 3.

2. Answer the questions that appear after the documents.

3. Write a three (3) page paper in MLA style that answers the questions from the textbook. Also, be sure to include your own thoughts on the subject matter. The anniversary for D-Day was a couple of days ago, so please keep that in mind. 

Be sure to include a \”Works Cited\” page that contains a list of your sources. This page does not count toward the three page minimum. This is just like your comp classes in high school and the university. Excessive grammatical mistakes will be graded down. Points will also be deducted if your paper does not reach the minimum length requirements. 

Your are also required to submit your paper electronically to Vericite. I will think that organization in the description. That group checks our submitted papers for plagiarism. 

This assignment will be due at the end of the module at 11:59 PM on July 28th. Any unfinished work will not be graded, and the submission Vericite will close.

CH 22 PRIMARY SOURCE EXERCISES – DOCUMENTS
FOCUS QUESTION 1. What steps led to American participation in World War II?

On June 6, 1944, the allied forces of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, free France, and Norway launched the single largest amphibious invasion in military history. It was an awe-inspiring undertaking and one of the most remembered events of the twentieth century. The American General Dwight D. Eisenhower, as Supreme Allied Commander, coordinated an incredible amount of resources, supplies, and soldiers from different nations in order to launch the attack that would force Germany to defend its western flank while at the same time it was fighting the Soviets to the east. And Eisenhower did this without showing his cards and tactics to the Nazis. That morning, President Roosevelt led the country in prayer. The president prayed for the soldiers and steadfast support from the American people. He ended with the following words.

\”With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace–a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God.

Amen.\”

Franklin Roosevelt, June 6, 1944

Loaded onto thousands of boats, and behind the machinery and firepower of the modern war, laid individual soldiers, who knew with almost perfect certainty that they and many of their friends would die on June 6, 1944, on a beach in northern France. Books and movies have tried to convey the scope and intensity of Operation Overlord with varying degrees of success. Indeed, this Primary Source Exercise attempts to allow more vivid and prompt reflection of that day, but the scope of World War II, much less the D-Day invasion, is almost too immense to comprehend.

DOCUMENTS

Document 1 is the speech drafted by General Eisenhower, in case of D-Day\’s failure. Eisenhower took the responsibility for his decisions very seriously, as exhibited by the note he carried with him at all times during the planning.

Document 2 is statistical information on the D-Day invasion. The numbers involved tell the story of how World War II was a war of the industrial era in all respects.

Document 3 is a series of photographs of scenes from the Normandy invasion.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Read Chapter 22, with special attention to Fighting World War II pp. 678-686. Read Document 1, analyze the statistical information in Document 2, and look at the photographs in Document 3.

2. Answer the following questions:

Why did General Eisenhower keep the note, Document 1, with him at all times during the planning and execution of Operation Overlord?
How does Document 3, the photograph of troops landing at Omaha Beach, show the context of the D-Day invasion?
Do you believe that Operation Overlord, the D-Day invasion of northern Europe by the Allied forces, was worth the sacrifice? Why or why not?
Document 1

Dwight D. Eisenhower, Draft of D-Day Statement Should the Invasion Fail, July 5, 1944

Our landings in the Cherbourg-Harve area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based upon the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone.

26.1_failure-message
Click to view larger image.
Source: Eisenhower Library and Museum

Document 2

Statistics related to D-Day invasion at Normandy, June 6, 1944

Allied Forces: 156,000 Allied troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, free France, and Norway.

Areas of Invasion: the Allied code names for the beaches along the 50-mile stretch of Normandy coast targeted for landing were Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. Omaha was the costliest beach in terms of Allied casualties.

The Armada: 5,000 ships and landing craft, 50,000 vehicles, 11,000 planes

Casualties (numbers represent total killed, wounded, missing, or captured):

United States – 6,603 (1,465 killed)

United Kingdom – 2,700

Canada – 1,074 (359 killed)

Germany – estimated between 4,000 and 9,000

Source: The National World War II Museum, The D-Day Invasion At Normandy- June 6, 1944, Fact Sheet, http://www.nationalww2museum.org/media/normandy-dday-invasion-fact-sheet.pdf)

Document 3

U.S. Coast Guard Collection, Army Troops Wade Ashore on \”Omaha\” Beach during the \”D-day\” Landings (photographs), June 6, 1944

26.3_omaha_beach_landing
Click to view larger image.
Source: Photograph from the U.S. Coast Guard Collection in the U.S. National Archives

Please use textbook below

Give Me Liberty!: An American History, Brief Fifth Edition, vol. 2
Eric Foner
W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.