 Here's a thought to the heart of men we thought he knew as well for... June 1944, the English Channel. A bridge of Allied supply ships streamed into Normandy and the beachhead grew. A week after D-Day, half a million men and their weapons had landed in France. Strengthening the beachhead by advances up to 20 miles, their goal was victory in Europe. Our aviation engineers had followed the assault waves in. Work began in the landing strips as soon as we unloaded our equipment. Some emergency runways were ready for operations in six hours. Around us, the signal corps boys strung up over a mile of wire every minute. Communications, reinforcements and supplies were building up for a powerful offensive designed to break out of the bulging Normandy pocket. We pushed south to gain elbow room. But the planned advance by 1st Army Commander General Bradley was falling behind Eisenhower's timetable. We kept jabbing towards Sandlow in rough Hedgerow country. A stubborn struggle against strong enemy resistance. The Germans, although one counterattack was smashed, rallied again. They ordered up crack parachute regiments and panzer divisions to seal off the Allied beachhead. Hitler ordered his divisions to hold and force a stalemate. Methodically, they scoured the front with fire to prevent any break through Sandlow. The German fire was effective. Roads and communications blocked. The Allied advance far down the line came to a halt. These were the worst days of the bloody Normandy campaign. The ground troops dug in and waited for a break. Those of us in Pete Cassata's 9th Tactical Command had been waiting too. Now clearing weather gave us a chance to crack the Sandlow block. 300 fighter bombers in half an hour. Following us were the heavies. 1500 were to pass over the target within 60 minutes. A plane every 2 seconds. Cobra was the planned name. With it, Eisenhower hoped to demoralize the enemy in a sector 5 miles long and 1 mile wide. Including medium bombers, nearly 2400 planes wove this carpet of bombs. The carpet bombing worked. Now General George Patton could deploy his armoured columns for a dash across France. But his right flank would be open. So he made a deal with air for close support. Assured that General Opie Weyland's 19th Tactical Air Command would provide fighter bomber protection, Patton plunged towards Germany 400 miles away. This signaled the start of air tank warfare with extraordinarily successful results. Each fighter bomber acted as the eyes of an armoured column and communicated by radio phone. Our job was to attack enemy concentrations in advance of our ground forces. By early September, the Allies, clear of the hedgerows and in command of the situation, now pursued the enemy. Protected and supplied by air, the Mobile U.S. Third Army in one month was at the doorstep to Germany. Air tank teams in their famous Dash Across France had opened a road to freedom. For the first time in military history, an entire German division quit fighting because of pressure from the air. Credit for these punishing attacks goes to the 19th Tactical Air Command. The formal surrender ceremony at Bojan Sea Bridge was held up until General Weyland could attend. Our 405th fighter bomber group had persuaded German General Elster to surrender his division, consisting of 20,000 officers and men. Major General Robert Macon represented the Allies in this unique ceremony. As for the German and his troops, they were the victims of three weeks of incessant air attacks, which had protected Patton's white flank. Accordingly and appropriately, General Weyland, head of the 19th Tactical Air Command, proudly represented his outfit at the ceremony. Their strafing attacks especially helped cage the enemy spirit. From England and the continent, the directive under which we opened our autumn campaign put German oil in first priority. Next on our target list came Unition Plants, Transportation and Aircraft factories. Our orders were to flatten what was left of enemy war production. But the Luftwaffe menace was not entirely wiped out. With amazing recuperative powers, with underground factories, with hoarded gasoline, with 350 airfields, the Germans again had air power. General Spots reported to Washington that the German Air Force had more fighter planes toward the end of 1944 than ever in its history. On several occasions, the Luftwaffe showed that its new strength could be brought to bear against American bomber formations. Garing rage at his fighter commanders, calling them cowards and threatened to transfer them into the infantry. Even so, he began to employ his forces in large concentrated air battles. We knew the Luftwaffe was desperate. Nevertheless, eight Air Force bombers pushed through to deliver our knockout punch. Suddenly, the Germans attacked. American air superiority couldn't be shaken. Germany was about to suffer the hell she herself had created. 50 calibers hammered the Luftwaffe into flaming oblivion and shot its last bolt. There was blood in the skies over Germany. It's now swooped down to spread the paralysis of defeat. The Nazi war machine, led by ruthless men who had sought to dominate the world, was overwhelmed and crushed to a degree never before experienced in the history of modern war. With final capitulation by German leaders, a great war had been won. The men who won it, the Allied armies, navies and air forces, had triumphed over a host of relentless, desperate and powerful enemies. At the Berlin Surrender, the U.S. Air Force was ably represented by General Spotz, who helped lead the Allied air supremacy, which had trampled out the path to victory in Europe. Air power, according to General Habarnold, was our margin of success. On this, the E-Day, he reminded the free world never to forget those men who gave their lives for this victory.