USS Corry leads the Normandy Invasion
 

D-DAY
June 6, 1944

Until an invasion of the European continent, Adolf Hitler would maintain his tyrannical grip, ever seeking to fortify himself in his quest for world domination.

USS Corry (DD-463)

The USS Corry led the massive Allied assault force from southern England to Normandy, France, for the invasion of German-occupied Europe. Destroyer USS Fitch (DD-462) was close by, as noted in D-Day Operation Order below. 

USS Corry Chief Petty Officer Francis "Mac" McKernon:

"We were told that the Corry was given the honor of leading the invasion because our gunners had hit every one of their targets and achieved the highest score when shooting at mock villages during the pre-invasion exercises in northern Britain." 

In 1966, Corry Chief Radio Technician McKernon met The Longest Day author Cornelius Ryan, who signed his copy of the classic D-Day book, as seen below.
 

 

Following are excerpts from Cornelius Ryan's classic D-Day book, The Longest Day: (Chapter 7) Lieutenant commander George D. Hoffman, thirty-three-year-old skipper of the destroyer U.S.S. Corry, looked through his binoculars at the long column of ships plowing steadily across the English Channel behind him.... The young commander—he had "fleeted up" on the Corry from a lieutenant to skipper in less than three years—was immensely proud to be leading this magnificent convoy.... Postponement of original June 5, 1944 D-Day: ...the whole convoy had been ordered back to England—no reason given.... [Hoffman's] job and that of the other destroyers now was to wheel this monstrous convoy around, and quickly. Because he was in the lead his immediate concern was the flotilla of mine sweepers several miles ahead. He could not contact them by radio because a strict radio silence had been imposed. "All engines ahead full speed," Hoffman ordered. "Close up on the mine sweepers. Signalman on the light." After the foul weather postponement, the invasion is on for June 6, 1944. Below is Ryan's description of the vast invasion armada: (Chapter 13) For now back in the Channel, plowing through the choppy gray waters, a phalanx of ships bore down on Hitler’s Europe — the might and fury of the free world unleashed at last. They came, rank after relentless rank, ten lanes wide, twenty miles across, five thousand ships of every description. There were fast new attack transports, slow rust-scarred freighters, small ocean liners, Channel steamers, hospital ships, weather-beaten tankers, coasters and swarms of fussing tugs. There were endless columns of shallow-draft landing ships — great wallowing vessels, some of them almost 350 feet long. Many of these and the other heavier transports carried smaller landing craft for the actual beach assault — more than 1,500 of them. Ahead of the convoys were processions of mine sweepers, Coast Guard cutters, buoy-layers and motor launches. Barrage balloons flew above the ships. Squadrons of fighter planes weaved below the clouds. And surrounding this fantastic cavalcade of ships packed with men, guns, tanks, motor vehicles and supplies, and excluding small naval vessels, was a formidable array of 702 warships.