WWII NCDU Monument Project
WWII Naval Combat Demolition Units Monument Project
June 6, 1944: Sixteen 50-yard gaps were required on Omaha Beach to land the planned 2,000 troops per hour for the D-Day invasion in 1944. Sixteen teams of (NCDU) Naval Combat Demolition Units, each composed of seven Navy men and five Army engineers, were tasked to clear through the beach obstacles. One of the first teams ashore was wiped out as it landed, and another lost all but one man as it prepared to set off its lengths of twenty-pound explosive charges. Of the 175 NCDU men at Omaha, thirty-one were killed and sixty wounded—a 52 percent loss rate. However, the survivors succeeded in clearing five main channels through the obstacles and three partial channels before the rising tide forced them to withdraw. By the end of the day about one-third of the obstacles had been destroyed or removed.
This is the legacy of the NCDU, a legacy that will be honored on May 30th, 2024 by the dedication of a new monument overlooking Omaha Beach in Normandy. This monument was spearheaded by the Navy Seal Museum in Port Pierce, FL.
For more information go to navysealmuseum.org/omaha
