 August the 15th, 1944, the makings of an Allied invasion in the Mediterranean. Soon, these men will step ashore along enemy hell beaches, and an operation called Dragoon will be underway. Behind the landings on the coast of southern France that day in August, lay one of the most controversial command decisions of the entire Second World War. A decision born in the grand strategy showdown talks of 1943, involving the heads of state of four major powers in Cairo, Egypt, and in Tehran, Iran. With these world leaders and their military comers, rest of the lives of tens of thousands of fighting men, as well as the ultimate outcome of war in Europe. More about Operation Dragoon in just one moment. Of Operation Dragoon. The Tehran meetings were held in the Russian embassy, with maximum security provided. Churchill later said in his memoirs that Molotov reported Soviet secret intelligence had uncovered a plot to kill one or more of the Big Three. The day of the conference, troops and police were everywhere around the embassy. This was one of the most significant gatherings of Allied heads of state and military leaders since the beginning of World War II. The big question mark was Russia. Would the Soviets prefer the move into southern France, proposed by America? Or would Stalin, like Churchill, prefer new efforts in Italy and the eastern Mediterranean? The answer came only after much deliberation. Stalin, apparently playing a waiting game, was in a position to side with Roosevelt, who continued to stress the need for operations in northern and southern France. Or Stalin could side with the prime minister, who forcefully appealed for new operations in Italy and on into the eastern Mediterranean. The rumors before the conference that Stalin would favor the British proposal did not materialize. The grand design for victory in Europe had finally gelled. As it turned out, Stalin favored a pincer type operation against northern and southern France. This, he explained, would give the Russians the second front they had long sought. But following the conferences, a number of related pressures began building against Operation Dragoon. The big push at Anzio had not been powerful enough to break the stalemate in southern Italy. Rome was still a long way off. And until Rome was taken, D-Day could not be set for Dragoon. Britain insisted on getting the Italian campaign moving again. And this would be a drain on forces intended for Dragoon. The newly appointed overlord commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, was well aware that strategic focus was upon him. He needed Dragoon in support of the Normandy invasion. Yet such things as the shortage of landing craft began to make Dragoon appear less feasible. At General George C. Marshall's suggestion, the American Chiefs of Staff delegated their authority to Eisenhower so he could confer with the British and determine who was to have logistical priority in the critical weeks ahead. Talks with the British resulted in compromise action. For the present, the fighting in Italy was to have priority over all other Mediterranean operations. Meanwhile, plans for Dragoon, the invasion of southern France, were to continue. But despite spirited Allied attacks in Italy, the stalemate there persisted. It was decided that Operation Dragoon, as a simultaneous attack, had to be canceled. Focus shifted completely to an intensified drive in Italy. The first big objective was Rome. June 4th, the Allies victoriously rolled into Rome. Two days later, the first assault waves of Operation Overlord went on to the Normandy beaches. Eisenhower continued to present a strong defense for supporting Overlord with an invasion of southern France. Britain again stressed a desire to advance north toward Hungary through the Liubliana gap. Both Marshall and Eisenhower pointed up the need for a new major port in the south of France for the passage of the 40 to 50 divisions waiting in America to fight in Europe. The port of Marseille in southern France would provide the facilities needed. In Naples, preparations began immediately in compliance with a supreme Allied decision to launch Operation Dragoon on August 15, 1944. The aftermath of any command decision to prepare for an invasion is never a small operation. Seventh Army's assault force was the 6th Corps with its three infantry divisions, the 3rd, 36th and 45th. They alone represented a force equal in number to the population of a middle-sized American city. Over 80,000 men, all seasoned veterans of one or the other of the campaigns in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. These men were to land on the main beaches on D-Day, another 33,500 to be ashore by D plus 4. The logistics involved in planning for this task force was a staggering consideration. Transportation alone with all kinds of surface craft, ships and vehicles required the greatest skill and coordinated planning. For weeks before August 15, loading operations had been going on at a variety of Italian ports, mainly in Naples, but also in small ports from Pazzuoli to Salerno, a steady procession of mechanized movement into the holes of hundreds of ships. In the days following the capture of Rome, this assault force had undergone concentrated pre-invasion training with stress and physical conditioning, individual combat training, simulated amphibious landings. All these preparations added to the actual combat experience of each unit made this one of the best prepared assault forces ever to get ready to hit a beach. By the 12th of August, men, weapons, equipment and supplies of the entire command were aboard ship and on the way. The coordination of such a complex armada was itself one of the most challenging tasks of the invasion. Every movement precisely timed. All convoys speeding toward the west coast of Corsica to Rendezvous and then moved north to France. For most, this time aboard ship was not a new experience. Other campaigns had taught them how to wait, as well as how to fight. The invasion fleet was now well on its way. The first special service force landed on the offshore islands of Levant and Poix-Croix, the night before the mainlanding. At about the same time, French commando units struck on the flanks of the mainland assault beaches. At Allied airstrip, they swooped inland to strafe German ground forces that were moving toward the beaches. The airborne troops jumped over the pre-selected drop zones, not far from the port of Freixus, where Napoleon once landed by ship to begin his last 100 days as Emperor of France. The primary mission of the airborne troops here was to prevent German movements into the main assault area. Koi bombings down the coast diverted the enemy for just so long. By now, they knew we were here. Their coastal guns opened fire on the Dragoon Task Force. We returned the fire. Just before the troops went in, rocket ships, new in the war, fired on the beaches. Now it was time to disembark into the landing craft. Each hour was a matter of minutes away. At about the same time in Italy, glider-borne troops took off, heading toward the area of Lumui in France, a suspected enemy assembly area for counter-attack. Supporting fire for the landing continued in all its fury. Only seconds now before they hit the beach. The first troops to land moved inland a few hundred yards and held on, while subsequent assault waves hit the beach. The first messages began to trickle back to the command ship. Landings on time. Enemy opposition light. Beach operations going better than expected. In a daylight assault such as Dragoon, getting the men landed to consolidate the beaches quickly and in depth is the first consideration. The next mission was to bring in the machinery of war. The supporting weapons tracked vehicles, all the equipment and supplies that would make it possible for the Allies to reorganize quickly for the advance to the Northwest. First intelligence estimates were gratifying. Two German divisions had been decisively crippled. Within hours of the first landings, more than 2,000 prisoners had been taken. Along about mid-morning, the glider-borne troops arrived at the Lumui area. Rough terrain and high winds made landings hazardous, and there were casualties. But overall, Allied casualties those first few hours were relatively light. The push inland began following consolidation of the beaches between Saint Raphael and Cavalier. An ideal offensive is one in which the enemy is trapped without means of escape. Operation Dragoon was approaching that ideal, but the Germans maneuvered and fought back with everything they had. French troops concentrated on Marseille and Toulon, while the Americans moved toward Avignon. Camouflaged enemy vehicles out of action. The result of effective air and ground supporting fire. Less than two weeks after the landings, an all-French assault force entered Marseille. A vital port city such as this does not fall without a struggle, especially when Hitler ordered Marseille to be held. The French forces finally took the city on August 28. Marseille could soon be receiving troops direct from America, and everywhere was the wreckage of war. Soon, the French took still another port, Toulon, another strategic prize, a water front city showing the thoroughness of our aerial strikes. A variety of quick access routes existed up from the assault beaches of southern France, and the Allies wasted no time clearing them for the passage of infantry, artillery, and armored units. In a special order of the day, the commanding general of the Seventh Army, Lieutenant General Alexander M. Patch, told his men, keep advancing. The enemy, he said, is perplexed and stunned, and the opportunity for decisive results is ahead of us. While the troops pushed on, the enemy was kept off balance with our artillery fire. The enemy was becoming disorganized. Armored and infantry elements continued the advance north. Their job was clear-cut, but not easy, to stop a German withdrawal through the Monttélémore Gap. The terrain would be getting tougher now, maneuvering more difficult. There were rivers to cross. There were steep slopes to climb, uphill all the way, and with the enemy looking down our throats, our artillery engaged in the duel with enemy guns. In the Monttélémore sector, heavy fighting continued during the last days of August. Some of the German forces managed a hasty withdrawal. North of Monttélémore, the Allied forces pursued the retreating German troops. On numerous occasions, the French forces of the interior, or Maquis, assisted Dragoon forces in seeking out and destroying the enemy. Their knowledge of the French countryside, their courage and fighting abilities were valuable assets to the Allied advance. Recognition of the free French efforts in fighting and capturing the enemy was evident when General Patch awarded to Macron, local Maquis leader, a silver star. On September 3rd, troops of the French First Infantry Division entered Lyon and were warmly received by their countrymen. Our forces continued to sweep north. Less than one month after the landing on southern France, troops of Operation Overlord had fought down from Normandy beaches and linked up with the advance element of Dragoon, 13 miles west of Dijon. This met a third army group, the Dragoon forces, was now added to the two army groups already under Eisenhower in the Overlord operations in northern France. Dragoon forces had captured more than 115,000 prisoners and had liberated practically all of eastern and southern France, decisively moving toward the climactic phase of World War II. There is perhaps no happier sound than the noise of a newly liberated town. The response of a grateful people was hard to leave, but there was still a war to win and so the troops moved on. The command decision which created Operation Dragoon was the result of discussion on the part of some of the most astute political and military minds of our century. A decision carried out by such commanders as 7th Army's General Patch, 6th Corps Lieutenant General L. K. Truskett Jr., a decision transformed by the individual soldier into effective action on the battlefield. General Eisenhower had this to say about the true hero of the battle, the American Fighting Man. He has surmounted charges into desperately defended beaches. He has fought his tedious, patient way through the ultimate fortified zones. He has endured cold, hunger, fatigue. His companion has been danger, death has dogged his footsteps. He and his platoon commanders have given us an example of loyalty, devotion to duty, and indomitable courage that will live in our hearts as long as we admire those bodies in man.