Utah Beach - D-Day June 6, 1944

What do you know about Utah Beach - D-Day June 6, 1944?  Defend with this World War II Quick Quiz.

1. Utah Beach was the codename for one of the Allied landing beaches during the D-Day invasion of Normandy, as part of Operation Overlord on 6 June 1944. Utah was added to the invasion plan toward the end of the planning stages, when more landing craft became available. The landing had relatively little resistance, in contrast to Omaha Beach where the fighting was fierce. Utah beach, about 3 miles long, was the westernmost of the five landing beaches, located between Pouppeville and La Madeleine. What was the army division that landed on Utah Beach?

• U.S. 4th Infantry Division
• U.S. 8th Infantry Division
• U.S. 12th Infantry Division

2. How many waves were planned for the attack on Utah Beach?

• 2
• 4
• 6

3. Who was the assistant commander of the 4th Division, had requested several times, against his commander's best judgment, to go in the first wave and personally lead the initial attack on the beach strong points? His written request was finally approved by Gen. Barton, 4th Division Commanding General. He would be the only general to land with the initial sea borne assault wave on D-Day and, at 57, he was the oldest soldier to land.

• Brig. Gen. George Patton, IV
• Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.
• Brig. Gen. David Eisenhower

4. What award was the Brig. General that landed on the first wave awarded for his actions?

• Silver Star
• Gold Star
• Medal of Honor

5. The defense of the area was largely based on flooding the coastal plain behind the beaches, and there were fewer bunkers.

• True or False?

6. What bombers of the U.S. Ninth Air Force, flying below 5,000 feet, provided close air support for the assaulting forces.

• B-25 Mitchell
• B-26 Marauder
• B-29 Superfortress

7. The most significant difference was the 13,000 men from the 101st Airborne Division and the 82nd Airborne Division already fighting inland. For 5 hours before the first Utah landings, the paratroopers (and glider forces) had been fighting their way out toward the beach, clearing the enemy from positions along the exits.

• True or False?

8. He was a Democratic United States Senator from Michigan from 1959 until 1976. He was a lieutenant colonel of Infantry and was wounded during the D-Day assault on Utah Beach. Who was this U.S. Senator?

• Charles E. Potter
• Donald W. Riegle, Jr.
• Philip Hart

9. This officer commanded the 8th Infantry Regiment for three years and led it into combat in Europe in World War II, participating in the D-Day landings on Utah Beach in June 1944. Although widely regarded as an outstanding officer, he was blocked from promotion because the Army Chief of Staff, General George Marshall, erroneously confused him with a well-known alcoholic officer with a similar name. Who was this officer?

• Douglas Cooper
• Rubin Epstein
• James Van Fleet

10. He is an American author, best known for his 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye, as well as for his reclusive nature. He has not published a new work since 1965 and has not been interviewed since 1980. In the spring of 1942, several months after the United States entered World War II, Salinger was drafted into the Army, where he saw combat with the U.S. 12th Infantry Regiment in some of the fiercest fighting of the war. He was active at Utah Beach on D-Day. Who is this author.

• Holden Caulfield
• Eugene O'Neill
• J. D. Salinger

Utah Beach - D-Day June 6, 1944 Answers

• 1. U.S. 4th Infantry Division
• 2. 4
• 3. Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.
• 4. Medal of Honor
• 5. True
• 6. B-26 Marauder
• 7. True
• 8. Philip Hart
• 9. James Van Fleet
• 10. J. D. Salinger

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