"Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! 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. 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, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory!
Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessings of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking."
-- Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower
5 comments:
OMG, he said GOD !!!!
James Old Guy
Everybody forgets Midway.
You are right. I would posit that Midway was the most crucial battle in WWII. The 1976 movie about the battle is surprisingly good.
Next year I cover Midway instead of D-Day.
There's still time for the Guadalcanal campaign in August. Midway stopped the Japanese offensive in the Pacific and put a real dent in their carrier fleet operations, but it was the Guadalcanal campaign where the wheel really started rolling irrevocably against the Japanese Empire. Without it, the war could've easily dragged on an extra year or more.
While good to remember the momentous events, it is also good to remember the thousands of little actions that men sacrificed themselves in.
Many forget the push through Sicily and Italy, a combination of many operations large and small in which men gave all.
The same is true of smaller islands in the Pacific, etc.
The slow grind.
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