On D-Day (Just In Case) [by General Dwight D. Eisenhower]

 

On June 6, 1944, nearly 3 million Allied troops readied themselves to cross the treacherous English channel in less than ideal weather. On this day, the first 160,000 of those troops landed on the beaches of Normandy, France. As they stormed the beaches, General Dwight D. Eisenhower's words rang in their ears: 

"You are about to embark upon a great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you," he wrote in a famous letter sent to troops before the assault. 

"We will accept nothing less than full victory! Good Luck!" But in case of failure, he had this note in this pocket. He had written it by hand, under great stress, and got the day and month wrong. The words are those of a leader of men:

National Archives

"Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based upon the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that Bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone."

Comments

[jim c]

I don't know if this is apocryphal or not, but after the beaches had been secured on D-Day Ike reportedly said, "Lafayette, we are here." This would make me, no kidding, cry every June 6, back when I used to love America.

[Edward Moran]

Here's a "poet's-eye view" of D-Day, from a letter written by Hyam Plutzik to his wife, Tanya, while he was stationed in Norfolk, England. A three-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, he would later distill these thoughts into poems such as "The Airman Who Flew Over Shakespeare's England," "Bomber Base," and "On the Airfield at Shipdham."

As Plutzik wrote on that fateful day:
"The invasion of France began this morning, after all the years of preparation and all the wrongs suffered at the hands of the evil ones. It has been a cold and bitter day and now in the evening the sky is overcast and a drizzle is falling. The planes are out on a mission. Another officer and I stood under the wing of a grounded plane and saw them take off, one after the other, roaring in the long takeoff and then rising laboriously in the air. For hours later a roar could be heard above the clouds.
...
"On a bomber base in England, with a farmer harrowing an adjacent field behind a plodding horse, I pass the D-day of this war."

To read the letter in its entirety, please visit http://www.hyamplutzikpoetry.com/ww2-letters

[David Lehman]

Thank you, Edward, for this timely recollection of Hyam Plutzik.