GIs from Company I, 23rd Infantry, 2nd Infantry Division advance near enemy pillboxes blown up by the Germans to prevent their use by the Americans; France, 1945.

Blown fortifications

An American mortar crew fires on German positions along the banks of the Rhine River on March 24, 1945. 
  The Americans fired more than 65,000 rounds of numerous calibers during efforts to soften the Germans up prior to crossing the Rhine.

Soften up German resistance

Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division view an M-5A1 Stuart light tank that was knocked out by the Germans on June 7, 1944, a few miles inland from Utah Beach, Normandy, France.