(Finished May 12th, 2024) Part 1 of 80+ Songs In Honor of the 80th Anniversary of D-Day on June 6th

Hello,

This story is inspired by the 107 year old man going back to France to partake in the 80th anniversary festivities to mark D-Day. That man is Reynolds Tomter, he was a merchant marine during World War 2.

That got me thinking about how this year is the 80th anniversary of D-Day and how I should have a series of blogs about the best 80+ songs about war in general and specifically World War 2. However as I start working on this blog series I realized it might be a lot harder than I thought to come up with 80 to 85 songs for this blog series.

From Wikipedia:

The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D-Day, it is the largest seaborne invasion in history. The operation began the liberation of France, and the rest of Western Europe, and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front.

Planning for the operation began in 1943. In the months leading up to the invasion, the Allies conducted a substantial military deception, codenamed Operation Bodyguard, to mislead the Germans as to the date and location of the main Allied landings. The weather on the day selected for D-Day was not ideal, and the operation had to be delayed 24 hours; a further postponement would have meant a delay of at least two weeks, as the planners had requirements for the phase of the moon, the tides, and time of day, that meant only a few days each month were deemed suitable. Adolf Hitler placed Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in command of German forces and developing fortifications along the Atlantic Wall in anticipation of an invasion. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt placed Major General Dwight D. Eisenhower in command of Allied forces.

 1) "Over There":

Such an incredibly beautiful song. 2) Vera Lynn "White Cliffs of Dover":

3) Kate Smith "God Bless America":

4) The Andrews Sisters "The Chattanooga Choo Choo":

Starr famously sings "War what is it good for, absolutely nothing. Generally I agree with that especially with Russia trying to annex Ukraine and the Israeli overreach in Gaza. However the United States entering World War 2 was absolutely necessary. Hitler, his movement and armies had to be stopped. This is much different, and not better than, the original version. 5a) Edwin Starr "War":

The classic version of this song. 5b) Edwin Starr "War":

There were probably a few "fortunate sons" in World War 2, however that trend didn't take hold until the Vietnam War. John Fogerty was not a fan of "fortunate sons" so he wrote a song about it. During World War 2 nearly everyone that was called up went to war. That includes The Splendid Splinter. 6) Creedence Clearwater Revival "Fortunate Son":

7) Simon and Garfunkel "The Sounds of Silence":

8) The Cranberries "Zombie":

9) Metallica "One":

10) The Doors "The Unknown Soldier":

11) Iron Maiden "Run To The Hills":

12) Barry McGuire "The Eve of Destruction":

13) Pink Floyd "When The Tigers Broke Free":

14) The Scorpions "Wind of Change":

15) Paper Lace "Billy Don't Be A Hero":

16) Alice In Chains "Rooster":

17) The D-Day Darlings "The Longest Day":

themusicaddict