D-Day, during World War II, June 6, 1944, symbolizes the most significant military accomplishments of this century (Alter, 1994). It was an assault in Normandy, France, between the United States and German Soldiers ("D-Day," 2004). World War II was a preventable tragedy and its occurrence represented an immense political failure. It was a national trauma that permanently changed us. The shared experiences of scrap drives rationing, anxiety issues, and personal loss inspired a generational solidarity that still endures. The need to finance the war led to the development of income tax withholding. In 1941, only 7 million Americans filed tax returns and by 1944, 42 million did. Migration of individuals to California and Northern cities was a result of the war (Samuelson, 1994). .

             According to Charles Richardson, of the North Shore regiment, at the time of war, he and his peers had trained and practiced for so long and were ready to go to war. They came up on the beaches and they were all singing away, laughing carrying on like always. He was almost twenty-two years of age. As they approached the beach, their platoon Sargeant, Perly White, who was twenty-five years old, was hit with an armored piercing. It was glanced off of him but there was a dead silence all of a sudden, from that moment on. They all realized for the first time that "this was for real," Richardson claimed (Humphreys, 2004). Boys seemed to become men on that day, if they were lucky. The stories of those who fell on the beach are still told today. The stories are well remembered and are too terrible for many to talk about.

             To some extent the war was not a success or a failure but simply a national trauma. Staying out of the war, would have been a calamity. It would have guaranteed Hitler"s victory, allowing him to develop nuclear weapons and he would have left the United States without major allies.