Today is December 7th a "Day of Infamy"

[AlexDaGator]

You're reading too much into things.
You thought there weren't any there--but that wasn't accurate. No more, no less; and just letting you know, not starting a pissing contest.

Marines were there in a support capacity (to direct naval gunfire, help with landing craft, and some specialists ashore), but that's it. No one said they were "storming beaches."

The post I was replying to: "His brother was a marine that hit the beaches at Normandy."

ADG: "I don't think any Marines hit the beaches at Normandy."

(please note, I didn't say anything about being offshore on a battleship)

Rev: "There were a few hundred; but they were mostly in a support capacity and not part of a divisional or battalion-level force on their own."

ADG: "C’mon man. “As members of ships detachments” ain’t storming beaches."

Rev: "You thought there weren't any there...Marines were there in a support capacity (to direct naval gunfire, help with landing craft, and some specialists ashore), but that's it. No one said they were "storming beaches.""

(at this point, you're probably conflating what I said was my personal belief-that no Marines hit the beaches-versus what I said the Army says to tease the Marines-that not a single Marine participated in history's largest amphibious assault-the former is my personal belief "I think", the latter is something the Army says to bust Marine balls)

Now that we've straightened that out, here's a very Marine-centric take by a Marine on why the Marines did not hit the beaches at Normandy:

Rivalry At Normandy | National Review

When I say Marine-centric, he's so desperate to find a Marine connection, no matter how weak or tenuous, he's even trying to take credit for Marines assigned to OSS working behind the lines with the French Resistance.

Look, the USMC has plenty to be proud of in WWII. Plenty. I've got nothing but love for the Marines.

That said...the Marines did not hit or storm the beaches of Normandy.

Cope and move along.



Alex.

 

[gatorev12]

The post I was replying to: "His brother was a marine that hit the beaches at Normandy."

ADG: "I don't think any Marines hit the beaches at Normandy."

(please note, I didn't say anything about being offshore on a battleship)

Rev: "There were a few hundred; but they were mostly in a support capacity and not part of a divisional or battalion-level force on their own."

ADG: "C’mon man. “As members of ships detachments” ain’t storming beaches."

Rev: "You thought there weren't any there...Marines were there in a support capacity (to direct naval gunfire, help with landing craft, and some specialists ashore), but that's it. No one said they were "storming beaches.""

(at this point, you're probably conflating what I said was my personal belief-that no Marines hit the beaches-versus what I said the Army says to tease the Marines-that not a single Marine participated in history's largest amphibious assault-the former is my personal belief "I think", the latter is something the Army says to bust Marine balls)

Now that we've straightened that out, here's a very Marine-centric take by a Marine on why the Marines did not hit the beaches at Normandy:

Rivalry At Normandy | National Review

When I say Marine-centric, he's so desperate to find a Marine connection, no matter how weak or tenuous, he's even trying to take credit for Marines assigned to OSS working behind the lines with the French Resistance.

Look, the USMC has plenty to be proud of in WWII. Plenty. I've got nothing but love for the Marines.

That said...the Marines did not hit or storm the beaches of Normandy.

Cope and move along.

Both your article and the tweet/x/whatever do mention there being Marines ashore in minor capacity (as pathfinders or directing naval gunfire, etc.). So no, it's not "hitting the beaches" since no unit-sized formation was utilized; but Altitude's family history could have well been accurate depending on what his relative did on D-Day itself. Neither he or I ever said the Marines had much to do with the amphibious assault itself, that's apparently an argument you're making with yourself.

The Army rightly gets credit and there's no doubt that inter-service rivalries played a strong part in that; but the reality (as mentioned in your article) was that the Marines wouldn't have been able to assemble a division to help with the invasion without moving one from the Pacific over...and the time/effort to do so wasn't worth the effort.

 

[AlexDaGator]

Both your article and the tweet/x/whatever do mention there being Marines ashore in minor capacity (as pathfinders or directing naval gunfire, etc.). So no, it's not "hitting the beaches" since no unit-sized formation was utilized; but Altitude's family history could have well been accurate depending on what his relative did on D-Day itself. Neither he or I ever said the Marines had much to do with the amphibious assault itself, that's apparently an argument you're making with yourself.

The Army rightly gets credit and there's no doubt that inter-service rivalries played a strong part in that; but the reality (as mentioned in your article) was that the Marines wouldn't have been able to assemble a division to help with the invasion without moving one from the Pacific over...and the time/effort to do so wasn't worth the effort.

There, was that so hard?


PS--

The Marine-Centric author misled you. He didn't exactly say there were Marine Pathfinders, he just implied it enough to mislead you.

There weren't Marine Pathfinders (or if there were, it would be news to me). The Pathfinders were specialist Airborne troops (of the 82nd and 101st). Their job was to jump and land first, and mark the landing zones for the main waves coming behind.

He meant to say that maybe a couple of Marines who left their Marine units and joined the OSS (predecessor to the CIA) and were parachuted into France months or years before the invasion to work with the French Resistance (and who were not captured by the Germans) may have helped the Pathfinders. That's quite a stretch and the actual number who fit that description must be vanishingly small.



Alex.

 

[Altitude Gator]

For the record - my aunt confirmed that my great uncle was in the army and landed at Normandy. Not sure why I thought he was a marine, but have for a long time.

He was was wounded the next day moving up the beach, but finished his tour. My aunt has his purple heart (he had no kids).

 

[gatorev12]

There, was that so hard?

No one said that but you.

And yes, the number of Marines who went ashore would have been incredibly small.

 

[Detroitgator]

For the record - my aunt confirmed that my great uncle was in the army and landed at Normandy. Not sure why I thought he was a marine, but have for a long time.

He was was wounded the next day moving up the beach, but finished his tour. My aunt has his purple heart (he had no kids).

Probably because Marines have been so effective in the PR realm convincing people they've landed more troops amphibiously than the Army.

 

[gatorev12]

Probably because Marines have been so effective in the PR realm convincing people they've landed more troops amphibiously than the Army.

We just said we do it better. ;)