Bubba, I'll get back to the topic. But have to say that at no point I tried to imply the operations in Europe were a walk in the park for the allies. As you said that would be ignoring the death toll for the whole operation from Normandy to Paris, and the campaign that followed towards Berlin. Not to mention the planning and coordination it took in an operation that it's to this day the biggest example of military cooperation between several countries.
What I was contesting however was the idea Germany would have won the war if USA hadn't participated in Europe (or to simplify, if Overlord hasn't happened or had failed). It's my belief the Soviet Union would have reached as far as Paris for the reasons I brushed on.
I too am a passionate about WWII. I study about the subject from as many sources as possible and as much as I can, for no reason other than I too feel this was a unique time in human history where exceptionally people emerged and took their place in history books and the collective mind of mankind - on all sides of the conflict. Nowhere in what was said did I at any time sought to remove value or importance from any of the participants.
