As a matter of late commemoration, here is Gen. Eisenhower's letter to his men on the day of the landings.
Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!
You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have
striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The
hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.
In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on
other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war
machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of
Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.
Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well
equipped and battle hardened. He will fight savagely.
But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of
1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats,
in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their
strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home
Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions
of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men.
The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to
Victory!
I have full confidence in your courage and devotion to duty and skill in
battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory!
Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great
and noble undertaking.
SIGNED: Dwight D. Eisenhower
I, for one, appreciate the fact that what happened on that day was something remarkable.
Mainly, because I do not think anybody can achieve what had been done on that day today.
Here's an idea of what a modern-day Eisenhower would have to go through:
I was on field during June 6. But I was able to watch the ceremony the took place in Normandy that night.
ReplyDeleteSo much things went wrong on Omaha beach that didn't have to go wrong. It was because of cowardice that the men were unable to get proper support on Omaha beach. The Rockets that were supposed to weaken the defenses never reached the beach due to the range that they were fired since the captain was afraid to bring his ship closer. The Sherman tanks weren't able to land on the beach and sank into the ocean because other captains were to afraid to bring the tanks close enough to shore. (note the Shremans used were modified to float but the bad weather and the distance from the shore sank them.]
But they fought hard against the Germans who were equally afraid. The Rangers Lead The Way. And took the beach.
Rangers indeed will lead the way.
ReplyDeleteInteresting Youtube video... It is way different from how life magazine published the beach landing-> they were rushing to get the Robert Capa's pictures developed that they ruined some of the negatives. So perhaps some the greatest pictures of war are never meant to be seen.
indeed.
ReplyDeleteWhile today, Eisenhower would've been hauled before some committee of civilians and grilled over why a few soldiers suffered from paper cuts while filing insurance.
ReplyDeleteOr better yet, he could be fired for using the word "Crusade". The Nazis' Arab allies would be insulted!
We've become a wussier world.