War Secretary Stimson's periodic announcement of war casualties made grim reading last week. Total U.S. casualties in three years of war now total 663,859, more than two and a half times the U.S. casualties of World War I.
Heaviest Army casualties were during the concentrated and furious period of the Normandy invasion. D-day also marked the beginning of a sharp ascent (see chart) which continued to mount as the fighting raged closer to Germany's borders. U.S. Army casualties in Europe from D-day to Jan. 1, said Stimson, have been 54,562 dead, 232,672 wounded, 45,678 missing. The Secretary could have added, had he...