Utah Beach
Beach in FranceWikipedia
76
MENTIONS
38
EPISODES
33
PODCASTS
Search complete. 76 mentions across 38 episodes found for "Utah Beach".
Nov 4, 2026
Yinka BokinniHOST
And in particular, its iconic opening beach sequence.
Yinka BokinniHOST
But do you know the name of the beach where the scene takes place? Is it A, Utah Beach, B, Juneau Beach, or C, Omaha Beach? I
Grant BaileyGUEST
think it was Omaha.
Grant BaileyGUEST
Omaha.
Pappy GNARRATOR
More than 7,000 ships, nearly 12,000 aircraft, 156,000 American, British, Canadian, and Allied troops crossing the English Channel in the dark toward five beaches on the coast of Nazi-occupied France.
Pappy GNARRATOR
Codenames that would be etched into history forever, Utah, Omaha, gold, juno, and soda.
Pappy GNARRATOR
Hitler had spent years building the Atlantic Wall along that coastline.
Pappy GNARRATOR
2,400 miles of bunker, landmines, artillery, and steel obstacles designed to make an Allied landing impossible.
Paul HechtVOICE_ACTOR
It's me, Louie Simons.
Paul HechtVOICE_ACTOR
Louie, don't you remember? Operation Overlord, Utah Beach, the liberation of Paris.
Paul HechtVOICE_ACTOR
Oh, sure, I remember.
William GriffisVOICE_ACTOR
I was there.
Mildred ClintonVOICE_ACTOR
Oh, Hank, Hank.
Mildred ClintonVOICE_ACTOR
Oh, really, I'm so tired of hearing about the glorious...
Paul HechtVOICE_ACTOR
We fought side by side all the way from Utah Beach to Paris.
Mildred ClintonVOICE_ACTOR
And because of that, now you're going to Paris without me.
BenHOST
back.
BenHOST
It's that again, it's opening routes, securing corridors and stuff, isn't it? Which is all the way from D-Day when they had to secure the you know, the beachhead going from Utah, wasn't it, to make sure that they could, you know, the equipment and the men could get through.
ChrisHOST
Yeah, exactly.
ChrisHOST
And, you know, like I say, once those positions are secured, the Allies can increasingly move beyond the defensive battle around Bastogne and turn their attention towards reducing the remaining German troops and eventually advancing towards Germany itself.
7 MINS LATER
BenHOST
Yeah, and I guess it's interesting because we saw in Bastogne where, you know, certain regiments or certain platoons were pulling out and it just always seemed like easy with the ones that were staying there.
BenHOST
But it's interesting as you say that that wider picture that you do this means that these people can do this, these other people can do this.
BenHOST
And, you know, whilst your bit may seem like a small bit, in order to do that, like they had to free up and stop the guns firing on Utah in order for the men to get on the beach and But once again, we're seeing Easy finding themselves playing a crucial role in the advancement of the Allies and that pushing back of the Germans that we've mentioned.
BenHOST
And this brings us back to, as we see, the men, for quite a lot of this episode, they're looking down on Foy.
Greg JacksonHOST
Nearly 7,000 belonged to the 101st, or the Screaming Eagles.
Greg JacksonHOST
Charged with a mission codenamed Albany, it fell to this inexperienced but soon-to-be legendary division to take out German artillery, destroy or hold a few bridges in villages just beyond Utah Beach, and secure causeways that troops storming those shores would need to push inland.
Greg JacksonHOST
As for their more experienced and likewise legendary counterparts, the all-American 82nd, these more than 6,000 paratroopers mission Boston called for them to land in drop zones a few clicks farther out, in and around the village of Sainte-Marie-Eglise, and destroy or secure specific bridges, thus preparing the next movement deeper into France.
Greg JacksonHOST
And how does all of this go as thousands of men parachute into the wrong drop zones? As the gliders bringing the second airborne wave, Mission Chicago for the 101st and Mission Detroit for the 82nd, come down so hard and scattered, they'll lead to the highest ranking American death of the day, the 101st's assistant division commander, Brigadier General Don Pratt.
Greg JacksonHOST
On its eastern edge is Omaha Beach.
Greg JacksonHOST
Moving west, we then hit a cliff that we'll encounter later, called Pointe du Hoc.
Greg JacksonHOST
Finally, at the western edge of this sector, and running up into the Cotentin, or Cherbourg Peninsula, is the most western beach of them all, Utah.
Greg JacksonHOST
We'll start our tale here, on Utah Beach, where we'll meet a rough riding and spirit general, Theodore Roosevelt Jr.
speaker_6SOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Yeah? It's me, Louie Simons.
speaker_6SOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Louie, don't you remember? Operation Overlord, Utah Beach, the liberation of Paris.
speaker_6SOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Oh, sure, I remember.
speaker_6SOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
I was there.
Joe BalkoskiGUEST
I've written eight books, all on the European theater.
Joe BalkoskiGUEST
I've written a two-volume set on American involvement on D-Day at Utah Beach and Omaha Beach.
Joe BalkoskiGUEST
And thanks to my career as a historian with the military, I wrote a five-volume history of the 29th Infantry Division, which... as your listeners well know, landed in the first wave on Omaha.
Joe BalkoskiGUEST
So that was my life's work.
Joe BalkoskiGUEST
But anyway, the 29th has been my life, so I'm pretty proud of that.
Kevin HymelHOST
And Joe, you're being modest because your books are excellent.
Kevin HymelHOST
And your books on Omaha and Utah Beach, I tell everyone, are the Bible.
Kevin HymelHOST
If you want to learn about Omaha and Utah Beach, you read Joe Balkoski's two books.
Dave TraffordHOST
And one day we were heading off on another tour and this one guy who was doing the tours and he was driving us around and he said, I love doing the Canadian tours on the beaches because when you guys come, you have a sense of history, you have a sense of respect and reverence.
Dave TraffordHOST
He said, I don't so much enjoy the Utah and Omaha visits.
Dave TraffordHOST
He says, I guarantee you that every time I go to Omaha or Utah, He says, there will be an American tourist who will say to me, I want to take a selfie.
Dave TraffordHOST
Where did Tom Hanks come ashore?
Keith LesliePANELIST
Yeah,
Dennis ThomasGUEST
I've collected sand and dirt from there.
Dennis ThomasGUEST
I went to Omaha Beach, Utah Beach.
Dennis ThomasGUEST
My son-in-law's father had passed away, and so he brought some of his dad's ashes.
Dennis ThomasGUEST
We put those at the beach there at Omaha Beach and done that.
Tim BenzHOST
yeah, obviously.
Tim BenzHOST
Because I would say that beating a 2-4 team is probably the same as storming Utah Beach.
Tim BenzHOST
Well, I mean, we'll think
Tommy RadioHOST
about the implications of them both.
28 more episodes mention Utah Beach.
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