Overlord: A Mighty Host

As America finds itself in the midst of an increasingly unpopular war, it's difficult for many to remember a war that the United States actually won. Vietnam and Korea were stalemates, the Persian Gulf War was an international affair, and the incursions into Panama, Grenada, Somalia, and Haiti hardly constituted our finest hours. But few would dispute the importance of “Operation Overlord,” a.k.a. D-Day, the largest military campaign in history, launched off the coast of France on June 6, 1944 by Supreme Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower. If D-Day had been a single battle, it would have been considered a defeat due to the huge numbers of military personnel killed in proportion to the relatively small amount of enemy territory captured. But as Overlord: A Mighty Host makes clear, the tired and battered soldiers who fought for every bloody inch of the Normandy beaches were united in their determination to usher in the end of Hitler's evil reign (then approaching five years). Speaking today, the American veterans interviewed here—elderly, gray-haired, slightly bent gentlemen who still get tears in their eyes—unashamedly admit that the hand of God protected them in those faraway lands, and their deeply emotional stories are nicely complemented with interwoven footage of the D-Day landing in this powerful tribute. Highly recommended. Aud: P. (J. Carlson)