First, let’s explain what “D-Day” means. Most people think it refers to the Allied (American, British, Canadian, and French) invasion of the Normandy coast of France on June 6, 1944. Which it does. But “D-Day” is simply means the day that a military operation will begin. In that regard, there were hundreds of “d-days” during World War II.
The code name for the invasion of Normandy was Operation Overlord, and it was the largest air-and-sea invasion in history. The Allies sent over 175,000 men in ships, airplanes, and gliders across the English Channel on a single day; hundreds of thousands more would follow in the weeks to come.
The Germans had spent many years trying to build up an impregnable wall of beach defenses, bunkers, minefields, and heavy gun positions that the German leader, Adolf Hitler, hoped would stop any invasion as the water’s edge. He called it the “Atlantic Wall,” and he knew that if the Allies were to establish a foothold on the European continent, his forces would be unable to stop them from liberating Europe and defeating Nazi Germany.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had strong ties to Colorado (his wife Mamie was from Denver) was in overall command of the Allied forces. There were five beach-heads along a 50-mile-long stretch of the Normandy coast at which the amphibious troops would land. While the British, Canadian, and French came ashore at Gold, Juno, and Sword Beaches in the eastern sector of the invasion area, the Americans landed at Utah and Omaha Beaches to the west.
Airborne and glider troops landed in the dark before the seaborne invasion began in order to confuse the German defenders and seal off the eastern and western ends of the invasion area.
Generally speaking, Allied casualties were lighter than expected, except at Omaha Beach, where the Germans were especially strong. Nevertheless, the Allies punched through the Atlantic Wall at all five beachheads in the span of the morning. From then on, it was only a matter of time (eleven months to be exact) before Nazi Germany was defeated. Overlord literally changed the course of history.
Hundreds of Coloradans took part in Operation Overlord – from infantrymen wading onto the beaches, to sailors on the ships, to the pilots of the planes and gliders, to parachutists who dropped onto the continent. Since it is impossible for the Veterans Museum Broomfield to honor them all, we have chosen three to represent all those who took part in the greatest invasion of all time.
Three local men performed heroically in the D-Day landings
Army Sgt. Robert Hilbert
Before joining the U.S. Army, Denver native Bob Hilbert attended Regis University and CSU. After seeing action in North Africa and Sicily, he landed on Omaha beach with the 1st Infantry Division on June 6, 1944.
Although wounded, he carried out his duties as a radioman in an exemplary manner and was subsequently awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star with cluster, and Purple Heart medals.
Navy Corpsman Robert A. Rudzinski
Corpsmen were non-combatants but they were often exposed to enemy fire; four physicians and 37 corpsmen were killed during D-Day.
Robert Rudzinski served as a navy corpsman aboard LST 351 at Utah Beach on June 6, 1944. He treated many wounded soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division and moved the injured to the shoreline where they were evacuated to landing craft and hospital ships.
In 1978 he moved to Broomfield.
Coast Guardsman Willard (Wil) E. Staub
After enlisting in the Coast Guard in 1943, Wil was assigned to the USS Samuel Chase (APA-26), an attack transport ship.
During the Normandy invasion, he served on a Higgins boat (LCVP-26) at Omaha Beach, delivering troops in spite of withering fire and retrieving the wounded and rushing them to hospital ships.
He was a Broomfield resident after the war.
(Flint Whitlock is a member of the board of directors at the Veterans Museum Broomfield where he is chair of the Display & Exhibits Committee. He is also an award-winning author of 14 books, including two on D-Day:
• The Fighting First: The Untold Story of the Big Red One on D-Day
• If Chaos Reigns: The Near-Disaster and Ultimate Triumph of Allied Airborne Forces on D-Day