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Invasions by the United States

  • Allied invasion of SicilyA corpse helped Allied forces invade Sicily in 1943. Fake papers on it pointed German forces toward Greece.
  • Operation OverlordStorms nearly stopped the D-Day invasion of Normandy before it began.
  • Normandy landingsThe D-Day invasion hinged on a weather forecast from Ireland's west coast.
  • Battle of OkinawaJapan's army sent 1,780 schoolboys aged 14 to 17 to the front at Okinawa. About half were killed outright.
  • Allied invasion of ItalyA loudspeaker on an Italian beach told landing American soldiers to give up. They landed anyway.
  • 2003 invasion of IraqThe 2003 invasion of Iraq opened with an airstrike on the Presidential Palace in Baghdad on the 20th of March 2003. It was the first stage of the Iraq War, and it lasted just over a month. A coalition led by the United States carried it…
  • Operation TorchOperation Torch landed Allied troops in 1942 without knowing if French defenders would fight.
  • War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)The war in Afghanistan lasted from 2001 to 2021, and it became the longest war in United States military history. It ran six months longer than the Vietnam War. A United States-led coalition launched it under the name Operation Enduring…
  • Mexican–American WarOn the 25th of April 1846, a Mexican cavalry force of 2,000 men attacked a patrol of 70 American soldiers led by Captain Seth Thornton. The patrol was routed. Eleven Americans were killed and 52 were captured. The clash took place in…
  • Battle of Iwo JimaPlanners expected Iwo Jima to fall in a week, but it took five weeks. Japanese defenders had dug deep tunnels.
  • Operation DragoonOn August 15, 1944, 1,300 Allied bombers hit Provence to open the invasion of southern France.
  • Bay of Pigs InvasionKennedy canceled the second air strikes the night before the Bay of Pigs landing.
  • United States invasion of GrenadaSoldiers invading Grenada in 1983 navigated with tourist maps. Military grid lines had been drawn on them by hand.
  • Invasion of Lingayen GulfKamikaze attacks at Lingayen Gulf on January 6, 1945 hit at a rate approaching 50 percent.
  • United States invasion of PanamaThe United States invasion of Panama began at 12:46 a.m. local time on the 20th of December 1989. Over the following hours, 27,684 American troops and more than 300 aircraft went into action. Washington's stated aim was to remove General…

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