Here's The Chilling Letter General Eisenhower Drafted In Case The Nazis Won On D-Day
On this day 68 years ago, nearly 3 million Allied troops readied themselves for one of the greatest military operations of world history.
D-Day. And the push that led to Hitler's defeat.
At least 160,000 of those troops landed on the shores of Normandy, France. As they stormed the beaches, General Dwight D. Eisenhower's confident words summed up the incredible significance of their mission:
"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 there's another letter that he set aside "in case of failure." What if we lost?
As you may have seen before in the National Archives, General Eisenhower had doubts in the face of a "well trained, well equipped and battle-hardened" enemy. If the invasion of Normandy failed, this is the message he would have relayed to the public. How different the world would be.
Scroll down for a transcription.
Here's what it says: "Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops.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."
*He accidentally dated the letter July 5. It should have been June 5. We're sure he had a lot on his mind.
What struck me most when I read that letter, was the unequivocal way that Ike was prepared to accept the complete blame himself if the mission had failed...
That's a quality sorely lacking in our current leadership class...
I doubt he'd have ever released an "I have already failed" letter dated June 5th (the day before the landings) nor one that was so obviously a draft.
Perhaps he did write this on July 5th in contemplation of a failure to breakout of the beachhead. The attack on Caen had just failed on June 26. The breakout came July 25th. If there had been no breakout, Ike might well have had to withdraw the troops from the beachheads.
Or maybe on June 5th he decided to give the operation exactly one month and if it didn't work, he'd give up on July 5th
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts
...and they pissed and moaned. Also drank beer, laughed, cried, got hurt, crapped their pants, etc. etc.
Thank God for all of those who served.
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts
They didn't piss and moan, they had a job to do and they did it!
As Meade pointed out above, I'm sure there were a fair number who pissed and moaned.
And then after they had done so, they jumped out of airplanes, stormed ashore from landing craft, fought their way up cliffs, bled, cried, died, and everything else.... But they knew they had a job to do, and they stayed at it until they got the job done.
The world owes them a debt that can never be fully repaid. We owe it to their memory, though, to keep paying it forward. -"BB"-
Yes, I suppose I could agree with you ... but then we'd both be wrong, wouldn't we?
They have recorded the names of individual Allied personnel killed on 6 June 1944 in Operation Overlord, and so far they have verified 2499 American D-Day fatalities and 1915 from the other Allied nations, a total of 4414 dead (much higher than the traditional figure of 2500 dead)
And lest we forget (aside from 15,000 Union and 5,000 rebel casualties at Fredericksburg):
Antietam Casualties Approximate Numbers
Union Confederate
Total Killed
2,100..........1,550
Wounded
9,550..........7,750
Missing/Captured
750............1,020
Total
12,400 ......10,320
22,320 in one day
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts
As Meade pointed out above, I'm sure there were a fair number who pissed and moaned.
And then after they had done so, they jumped out of airplanes, stormed ashore from landing craft, fought their way up cliffs, bled, cried, died, and everything else.... But they knew they had a job to do, and they stayed at it until they got the job done.
More accurate, that's what I should've posted.
Your collective inability to acknowledge this obvious truth makes you all look like fools.
I'm not sure LJ will agree with you about the Confederacy there, LR
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts
