COLUMNS

One company of U.S. soldiers sparked success on D-Day. What to know about the angels of Omaha.

The landing at Omaha Beach started as a disaster for the Allies until two groups of soldiers found a gap in the Nazi defenses.

Eric Hogan

This commentary is written by Eric Hogan, a retired real estate developer and a Tybee Island resident. His father and two uncles were World War II veterans and sparked his lifelong interest in the history of the war.

The single most important day of the 20th century was 79 years ago on June 6, 1944, during the pinnacle of World War II. It will forever be remembered as D-Day, but the official code name was Operation Overlord.

On that momentous day it was determined whether the Allies, who had assembled the largest military invasion force in history, would successfully establish a beachhead on the Normandy coast of France. From there they would begin the liberation of Western Europe from the four-year occupation of Nazi Germany.

The Allies had designated five landing beaches along the Normandy coast ― from west to east ― Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. The Germans had been fooled to believe the most likely invasion beaches would be further northeast up the French coast near Calais, the narrowest point in the English Channel.

In the greatest intelligence deception of war, the Allies had convinced the Germans that the feared Gen. George Patton would lead an amphibious assault across the channel to seize the Calais area. This effective deception played an important role in allowing the actual landings on four of the five Normandy beaches to go relatively smoothly with fewer casualties than expected. The one exception was Omaha Beach which came frightfully close to becoming a disaster.

A woman holds a bouquet of roses during the 78th anniversary of D-Day ceremony  June, 6, 2022, in the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial of Colleville-sur-Mer, overlooking Omaha Beach. The ceremonies pay tribute to the nearly 160,000 troops from Britain, the U.S., Canada and elsewhere who landed on French beaches on June 6, 1944, to restore freedom to Europe after Nazi occupation.

What happened at 'Bloody Omaha'?

Two thirds of the invasion troops from the United States on D-Day assaulted a four-mile long beach overlooked by steep bluffs fortified with numerous enemy gun emplacements and blocked off at either end by limestone cliffs, the place they call "Bloody Omaha."

The American 1st Infantry Division and 29th Infantry Division would be badly mauled in their dawn landing at Omaha Beach; rough seas because of marginal weather conditions, mined obstacles on the beach and mines in the bluffs, a sea wall to overcome, barbed wire, and heavily armed concrete fortifications beyond. 

The concrete fortifications also included the deadly German MG-42 heavy machine gun that could shoot 1,200 rounds per minute, more than twice as many rounds as American and British machine guns. The MG-42 laid down a withering, suppressing fire with a distinctive sound that caused it to be nicknamed "Hitler's buzzsaw".

At the western end of Omaha, the first wave was all but wiped out, barely able to shoot back against the Germans. Succeeding waves piled up on the sea wall. Chaos reigned and the Americans were paralyzed and unable to mount an attack against the German defenders. With over a thousand dead in just a few hours and bodies strewn everywhere on the beach, the American high command began to ponder whether an evacuation of the beach would be necessary.

An evacuation would have caused terrible Allied problems because that would leave a German controlled beach area between American troops on Utah Beach and the other three beaches controlled by the British and Canadians.

This June 6, 1944, file photo shows U.S. Army troops wading ashore at Omaha Beach in northwestern France during the D-Day invasion.

Amidst this looming tragedy, a company of roughly 150 men from the 1st Infantry Division commanded by Capt. Joseph Dawson miraculously landed on the beach where there was a tiny gap between the interlocking fields of heavy gunfire coming from the German fortifications. They safely got to the sea wall and reorganized to prepare an attack on the strong fortifications as their orders dictated.

However, Capt. Dawson observed the piles of bodies to his left and right and sized up the grim situation. He decided that instead of a direct attack against the formidable German fortifications that would be suicidal, he would ignore his orders and his company would move straight inland between the fortifications and try to pick their way between some smaller hills and ravines, with the goal of reaching the high bluffs overlooking the beach.

As his company began to move inland, Capt. Dawson saw a couple of dead soldiers who had been killed by a detonating landmine so he very cautiously led his men through the minefield unharmed. Continuing to move forward and higher by crawling and crouching, the company eventually came under fire of a German machine gun up on the bluff that wounded several of his men.

After telling his men to find cover, Capt. Dawson began crawling through the brush and sand to work his way up and to the side of the machine gun position on the bluff. He looked back down and saw another platoon of Americans commanded by Lt. John Spalding coming up the hill to the side of his company. Lt. Spalding's platoon had landed in almost the same spot on the beach a few minutes after Capt. Dawson's company and decided to follow them inland given the human carnage on the beach.

Using hand signals, Capt. Dawson managed to get the attention of Sgt. Philip Streczyk, a seasoned combat veteran that the inexperienced Lt. Spalding relied on. He directed them to put a suppressing fire on the German machine gun nest so he could sneak the rest of the way up the bluff undetected by the Germans.

As Capt. Dawson reached the top of the bluff to the side of the machine gun nest, he pulled the pin out of two hand grenades. The Germans spotted him about 10 yards away and quickly tried to turn their gun on him, but he made two perfect throws with his grenades and killed all the Germans. At this moment in time, Capt. Dawson was likely the first American to reach the top of the bluff towering above Omaha Beach and the first opening was now cleared for Americans to exploit and turn the tide of battle.

Capt. Dawson then waved for all the soldiers to join him at the top of the bluff to formulate a plan. He instructed Lt. Spalding and Sgt. Streczyk to head west to attack one of the strong German fortifications that was savaging the men on the beach. Capt. Dawson would move his company east toward the village of Colleville to the rear of another strong German fortification. They also sent men back down to the beach to direct more American units to ascend to the bluffs and attack the Germans from the flanks.

Lt. Spalding and Sgt. Streczyk successfully neutralized the strong German fortification they were after along with several smaller positions they encountered. The experienced warrior Streczyk primarily led the attacks involving lots of close quarters combat. Some more rapidly moving American troops joined Capt. Dawson near Colleville in the early afternoon. They attacked from the rear and destroyed the other strong German fortification. Even as the brutal fighting continued, control of the situation at Omaha had now shifted to the Americans. 

Eric Hogan

On-the-ground knowledge proves decisive

Once the invasion began and troops were landing on the beaches, the outcome of the battle was transferred from the higher commanders to the men on the beach. There was no brilliant decision that Gen. Dwight Eisenhower or Gen. Omar Bradley could make that might affect the outcome.

It was in the greatest tradition of the average Joe American soldier that a trio of Americans found themselves in a desperate, perilous situation on Omaha Beach and recognized that their existing orders were useless. They then assessed their situation, recognized an opportunity, took the initiative, and adapted and improvised their tactics to be successful.

Capt. Dawson, Lt. Spalding, and Sgt. Streczyk were all awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest medal for valor given by the U.S. Army. A number of historians believe Dawson and Streczyk should have received our nation's highest medal for valor-- the Medal Of Honor.

Streczyk was a highly decorated soldier. He  was also awarded four Silver Stars and six Bronze Stars for bravery. He served 440 days in combat-- North Africa, Sicily, France, Germany, and suffered physical and emotional problems after the war which help explain why he committed  suicide in 1958, at the age of 39. The Army honored Capt. Dawson at the 50th anniversary of D-Day in 1994 by asking him to introduce President Bill Clinton.

Capt. Dawson, Lt. Spalding, and Sgt. Streczyk, and the men they led, managed to slip in between strong German fortifications that were slaughtering the troops on the beach and fight their way to the top of the Omaha bluff, clearing a path others could follow. Using the element of surprise because of their attacks from the rear, they methodically destroyed many German defenses. Besides saving hundreds, perhaps thousands of American lives, these three unsung American heroes were probably most responsible for transforming the D-Day battle at Omaha Beach from a bitter defeat into a glorious victory. Surely, these three men deserve to be fondly remembered as "The Angels Of Omaha".