What you see on the headline attached to this blog post might be the most understated and underrated military command in the history of warfare.
It came from the lips of Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme Allied Commander of the forces that launched the greatest sea invasion in history. It’s been called D-Day. And for those who have wondered what the “D” stood for … it stands for nothing at all, other than to identify the day the invasion took place.
Ike and his staff had been hamstrung by inclement weather that walloped the English Channel for days prior to the launch. They had planned to go on June 5 but delayed the invasion for 24 hours.
Then came some somewhat encouraging weather reports overnight. Gen. Eisenhower took in the reports and then gave the order: “OK … we’ll go.”
Roughly 5,000 ships took part. They carried tens of thousands of Allied troops, from the United States, Great Britain, Canada, France and a host of other nations.
Operation Overlord succeeded in securing the beachhead at Normandy, on the French coast. Was it a certainty? Hardly., Indeed, Eisenhower prepared for the worst, drafting an announcement that told the world that despite our best efforts, the landing had failed. And in making that never-delivered announcement, Ike took full responsibility for the failure.
The war in Europe would drag on for nearly one more year before Adolf Hitler’s nightmarish dream of the Third Reich came crashing down.
The men who stormed ashore that day are in the mid- to late 90s; many of them are centenarians. Most of them have passed on, leaving the world with few remaining heroes to thank for their valor, their courage and their undying loyalty to freedom.
They formed what has been called The Greatest Generation. I am a product of that generation, as my dad served honorably as a sailor, fighting the Nazis in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations.
I am proud of his service, and I am grateful beyond measure for the men who saved our civilization from the tyrants.