Join Tim Vane, local historian who currently serves as DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES for The Knoxville Civil War Roundtable for an interesting talk on “Utah and Omaha Beach 75 Years Later: The German Perspective“. Establishing secure beachheads at Utah and Omaha beaches were essential to the success of D-Day. While Americans are familiar with the US side of the story, very few understand the challenges of the invasion from the German perspective. What was their plan? How were they organized? Where were their forces located and how quickly could they get to the beaches? Was their training adequate and what was their equipment like? What role did their Air Force and Navy play in the defense of Normandy? Did the German leadership respond to the challenges appropriately? And, most importantly perhaps, could they have stopped the invasion? We'll look at all these questions, and more, in understanding what the Germans did and why.