Omaha Beach facts

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For the brutal Omaha Beach scene in ‘Saving Private Ryan’ Spielberg hired several dozen army amputees with prosthetic limbs so that he could have their arms and legs blown off in a more realistic fashion. More than $11 million was spent and 1,000 extras used for the infamous scene.

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On the morning of D-Day, J.D. Salinger landed on Omaha Beach with six chapters of his unfinished novel Catcher in the Rye in his backpack.

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In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across answering who landed at omaha beach. Here are 22 of the best facts about Omaha Beach D Day and Omaha Beach Kentucky Derby I managed to collect.

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1. Within 10 minutes of Allies landing on Omaha beach D-Day 1944,every Officer of the first wave Alpha Company had been killed. 30 minutes later the entire first wave Alpha company had a 96% casualty rate

2. Teddy Roosevelt Jr (son of President Theodore Roosevelt) was the oldest man to invade the beaches of Normandy, the only man to invade Normandy with his son (Cpt. Quentin Roosevelt II on Omaha Beach), and he was the only general to lead his troops (on Omaha beach with only a cane and a pistol)

3. Navy SEALs began as a Naval Combat Demolition Unit eliminating obstacles on enemy-held beaches at Normandy prior to invasion. The NCDUs at Omaha Beach blew 8 complete gaps and 2 partial gaps in the German defenses by clearing 700 yds of beach in 2 hours, another 900 yds by the afternoon.

4. LIFE photographer Bob Capa disembarked at Omaha beach with the allied assault and took 106 photographs. All but 11 were ruined by a darkroom technician.

5. 50% of the troops defending Omaha Beach 1944, Weren't German

6. The Omaha beach landing scene from Saving Private Ryan caused an upsurge in PTSD from veterans who were there as the scene was too realistic for some

7. The portrayal of the battle in Omaha beach in Saving Private Ryan was so realistic, a lot of vets were not able to finish watching that scene.

8. A few days before D-Day, The Telegraph accidentally published a crossword puzzle that gave away vital codenames (Omaha, Utah) that the USA had been using to hide the mightiest beach assault of all time.

9. USS LST-510, which landed troops at Omaha beach in 1944, is still in service as a car ferry.

10. On D-Day, a single German machinegunner on Omaha Beach claimed to have shot over 2,000 Allied soldiers. He is known as "The Beast of Omaha."

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The allies modified some Sherman tanks to be amphibious for the D-Day invasion. Results were mixed, with almost all the tanks assigned to Omaha beach sinking before reaching land.

During D-Day, amphibious tanks were supposed to give cover to the Infantry storming Omaha Beach, but due to heavy seas, most sank before reaching the shore. - source

Ernest Hemingway was present during the D-Day invasion, however he was considered "Precious Cargo" and not allowed to set foot on Omaha beach. - source

Of the 106 photos Robert Capa took of the Omaha Beach D-Day landings all but 11 were destroyed in a darkroom accident.

Omaha Beach may have been code named by U.S. Gen. Omar Bradley in honor of a carpenter from Omaha, Nebraska who helped convert an apartment building in central London into a secret U.S. Army headquarters for the invasion to liberate Europe. - source

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Omaha Beach was most likely named for a carpenter, Gayle Eyler, on General Omar Bradley's headquarters staff.

How many died on omaha beach?

A single German Infantryman, Heinrich SeverLoh, known to history as "The Beast of Omaha' may have been responsible for roughly two thirds of all American infantry killed on Omaha beach, between 2,000-3,000 men. He manned an MG42 in WN-62 and fired almost 14,000 rounds over 9 hours

Many of the stories surrounding the iconic photographs taken by Robert Capa on Omaha Beach during D-Day are provably false including the loss of a number of his photos during a darkroom accident.

An 11 year old boy saluted on Omaha Beach for over an hour on the 70th anniversary of D-Day out of respect for the fallen soldiers.

Real amputees were hired from all over Ireland to be used in the opening Omaha beach scene of Saving Private Ryan.