Amna Nawaz: As I have already mentioned, today marks the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings.
And for most people, the Allied invasion of Normandy is a historic event.
But a new book takes us back 80 years and lets us hear directly from the people who lived history.
Written by Garrett Graff.
And I spoke with him recently about “When the Ocean Comes Back to Life.”
Garrett, welcome to the NewsHour.
Thanks for coming.
Garrett Graff, author of When the Sea Came to Life: An Oral History of D-Day: It’s an honor.
Amna Nawaz: So this is an 18-month task for you to put together the largest and most comprehensive collection of first-hand testimonies on this historic day and events.
You’ve put together oral histories before, especially this fantastic book on 9/11.
Why did you feel this story needed this format now?
Garrett Graff: This is the moment when we are left with virtually every first-person recollection of D-Day.
So for me, this was a moment to retell the story of D-Day in the voices of the participants themselves, to bring it to life for a new generation who may not be as familiar with the story of D-Day, as the event fades from memory into history.
Amna Nawaz: When the Sea Comes to Life. Tell us the origin of this phrase and why you chose this title.
Garrett Graff: The title actually comes from a German defender on Omaha Beach and his reaction when the invading forces arrive off the coast of Normandy, waking up in his bunker that morning and suddenly seeing the sea full of Allied ships.
And to me, what the title represents is, in a way, the boldness of the operation.
This was, in many ways, the most daring human endeavor we have ever seen and probably will ever see in history. D-Day saw the movement of a million Allied combatants, the largest fleet in the history of the world, 7,000 ships crossing the Channel in one night. It took the Germans completely by surprise.
The event will be kept secret until the very last moment.
Amna Nawaz: There are stories from the voices of people like Churchill and Eisenhower who have been forever etched in history.
But let’s be honest: some of the most compelling lines and stories come from people whose names we’ve never heard before.
Paratrooper Private First Class George Alex landed in Normandy just six hours before the invasion.
Here you quote him from that moment: “Yes, I was scared.
I was 19 and I was scared.”
Sergeant Alan Anderson said of the preparations for the invasion:
He said — quote — “The Army was prepared to accept 100% casualties for the first 24 hours.
It was interesting because we all turned around and looked at each other and said, ‘Well, it’s tough that you have to go.'”
How did these men whose accounts you read view their place in an operation of the size and scope that you describe?
Garrett Graff: Looking back, we look at the Normandy landings as an incredible, historic triumph of heroism, courage and bravery.
When you listen to the stories of the soldiers crossing the Channel on the night of June 5th, the paratroopers flying across the Channel that night, you don’t get a sense of the heroism, the bravery and courage that they must have felt in that moment.
They are lonely.
They are scared.
They wonder if they will be able to last until the end of the next day.
Amna Nawaz: There’s a story about a guy named Waverly Woodson Jr.
He was a black medic at Omaha Beach.
Why is his story important here?
Garrett Graff: To me, Waverly Woodson is one of the most fascinating characters in the book.
He was the only black combat medic to go ashore on D-Day, was wounded before reaching shore, and spent 30 hours treating the wounded on Omaha Beach before withdrawing himself.
He was one of the few black soldiers to be awarded the Medal of Honor in World War II, although due to the systemic racism of the segregated military at the time, no black soldiers in World War II were ever awarded the Medal of Honor.
And on the 80th anniversary this week, he was awarded the long-awaited Distinguished Service Cross, the nation’s second-highest award for valor in combat.
Amna Nawaz: Garrett, it’s amazing when you think about what this entire generation, the “Greatest Generation,” has carried with them for 80 years and in many cases never spoken about.
The man quoted here is Lieutenant Reg Weeks, a member of the 3rd Canadian Division.
“What I remember,” he says, “is that there was a look in the eyes of those who weren’t killed, those who had landed before me, that I had never seen under any circumstances.”
This generation isn’t known for talking openly about this stuff, right?
Garrett Graff: If you go back through the history and the archives, you’ll find that a lot of these oral histories were actually collected between the 40th and 50th anniversaries of the Normandy landings, in 1984, 1994. I think this was the moment, partly because of Ronald Reagan’s famous speech at Pont-du-Hoc in 1984, when the nation truly recognized the legacy that this generation left us – that these 19-, 21-, 22-year-old sergeants led them into battle and saved our democracy.
Amna Nawaz: Many people see parallels between that time in history and what we are experiencing now.
Did you notice those similarities in your research or did the people you spoke to notice them as well?
Garrett Graff: That’s correct.
In researching, writing and editing this book, I thought a lot about our contemporary situation and about what is going on in Europe and what the battles are currently going on in Europe about the future of European democracy, but also what the battles are going on within our own countries.
And this year we’re going to spend a lot of time debating what America is and what it isn’t.
And I think one of the ways you can define that is what America is willing to fight for.
Amna Nawaz: The author is Garrett Graff.
The book is “When the Sea Came to Life: An Oral History of D-Day.”
Garrett, thank you so much for being here.
Garrett Graff: With pleasure.
