

The Real Story: First Wave at Omaha Beach (1960) - curtis
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/196011/omaha

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brandnewlow
Here's a relevant piece from the (incredible) story:

<blockquote>Inland from Vierville about five hundred yards lies the Château de
Vaumicel, imposing in its rock-walled massiveness, its hedgerow-bordered
fields all entrenched and interconnected with artilleryproof tunnels. To every
man but Taylor the target looks prohibitive. Still, they follow him. Fire
stops them one hundred yards short of the château. The Germans are behind a
hedgerow at mid-distance. Still feeling their way, Taylor's men flatten, open
fire with rifles, and toss a few grenades, though the distance seems too
great. By sheer chance, one grenade glances off the helmet of a German
squatting in a foxhole. He jumps up, shouting: "Kamerad! Kamerad!" Thereupon
twenty-four of the enemy walk from behind the hedgerow with their hands in the
air. Taylor pares off one of his riflemen to march the prisoners back to the
beach. The brief fight costs him three wounded. Within the château, he takes
two more prisoners, a German doctor and his first-aid man. Taylor puts them on
a "kind of a parole," leaving his three wounded in their keeping while moving
his platoon to the first crossroads beyond the château.</blockquote>

The chateau looked untakeable, and perhaps it was. But they tried anyway, got
lucky and escaped largely unscathed. Had they not tried, they would never have
gotten lucky.

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GavinB
This is an engaging read, but the text doesn't square with the introduction.
Marshall starts by saying that "disproportionate attention was paid to the
little element of courageous success in a situation which was largely
characterized by tragic failure."

Perhaps at the time (this was written in 1960) the account contradicted the
common view, but the second half of the piece seems to me an example exactly
what Marshall criticizes in the introduction.

~~~
robotrout
31 paragraphs detail the men who tried and died, while the last 13 paragraphs
are more positive, detailing a group of men who tried and lived. I'm not clear
how you feel that he is paying disproportionate attention to courageous
success. That he wanted to end the article on a positive note meets my
approval if not yours. Frankly, I needed a little uplift after those first 31
paragraphs.

~~~
GavinB
I thought it was a great article, I just found the introduction a bit
incongruous. The title of the piece is "First Wave at Omaha Beach," but all
discussion of the first wave is concluded by 40% of the way through.

By the conclusion, which should be wrapping up the thesis of the article, the
first wave seems forgotten and those final 13 paragraphs could have been
lifted straight from the writings that are critiqued in the introduction.

That's my perspective today. In 1960 this might have been much more of a break
from the established narrative, and even fairly shocking.

------
Tichy
I still don't understand how anybody could survive on the beach. Where did
they hide?

