It was approaching midnight on June 5, 1944, when the U.S.S. Texas entered the German minefield off the coast of France. Alongside the dreadnought were nearly three thousand ships crossing the English Channel to begin their assault on the Normandy coast. With all lights extinguished, their dark silhouettes were barely visible to the crew on the Texas deck. Dimly lit buoys marked the lanes minesweepers had cleared for the ships’ slow advance.By 2 a.m. the Texas, with more than 1,600 men aboard, had completed its painstaking journey and dropped anchor. Miles away, American pilots began bombing German fortifications near the cliffs and beaches where ground troops would land in daylight. The explosions lit the sky with a multicolored glow—“just like the fourth of July,” gunner’s…
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