The possibility of having sex motivated American soldiers to battle.
The Allied forces, who arrived in Normandy in June of 1944, were widely regarded as heroes. However, their arrival didn't come without its dark side. Thousands of French women endured a nightmare as they were sexually assaulted by American soldiers in the months that followed. Their stories remained forgotten for decades, only serving to darken the celebrations of D-Day's 80th anniversary.
To keep the mood from being spoiled, these unfortunate victims of the Allied advancement kept their experiences a secret for years. Each of them lived with the shame and fear of being involved in a scandal. Aimée Dupré, at 99 years old, decided to tell her mother's story.
Her mother, Aimée Helaudais Honoré, was 19 years old in 1944. When around 156,000 American, British, and French soldiers landed on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, D-Day marked the beginning of the end for the German occupation of France. These foreign forces were celebrated as liberators.
But things took a dark turn in August 1944. Two tipsy American soldiers suddenly showed up at Aimée's family farm. "They needed a woman," says Aimée Dupré, remembering that night. Her mother had decided to step in, to protect her daughter. Aimée's mother was taken to a field and gang-raped. The attack continued for hours, with her mother being forced to endure multiple rapes from each of the soldiers.
The next morning, they waited anxiously, unsure if their daughter would return unharmed.
As many as 152 US soldiers were tried for rape in October of 1944. The true number of perpetrators is thought to be larger. The topic resembles a hidden taboo from World War II, according to historian Mary Louise Roberts. "Probably hundreds, if not thousands, of rapes by American soldiers between 1944 and 1946 were not reported," she says.
The silence among victims was due, in part, to the shame attached to rape. Plus, the mood back then was one of jubilation, celebrating the arrival of the liberators. The US military even used propaganda to attract French women. "The French women are crazy about the Yanks," declared the military newspaper "Stars and Stripes - for which we are fighting" in September 1944. The newspaper also published pictures of US soldiers being kissed by French women. It is believed that the prospect of sex was what got the American soldiers to fight.
Roberts also discovered that the only soldiers being convicted were black ones, making them the scapegoats. This was done to protect the image of the "honorable" American soldier. The idea that blacks had an "unrestrained sexuality" was prevalent during this time, undermining the real heroes. As Roberts puts it, "Nobody wanted to tarnish the image of the American hero, on whom everyone was so proud."
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Despite the heroic status of the Allied forces after D-Day, incidents of sexual abuse against French women by American soldiers became a sobering reality. Many victims kept their experiences silent due to shame and the jubilant mood surrounding the liberators. The US military even used propaganda to attract French women, implying that sex was a motivator for American soldiers during the Second World War.
