June 06, 2006

June 6, 1944

SUPREME HEADQUARTERS
ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY FORCE

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 States 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 blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Knowing how this crusade eventually turned gives many of a certain political stripe the false idea about the rightness of that cause, versus the rightness of conflicts that inevitably followed. It was indeed right, but victory was not assured simply because it was just, as we figure justness. But for some crucial miscalculations, the effort could have turned into a rout, and set back the eventual defeat of Germany by years--or possibly even allowed them the breathing room required to sue for peace on other than unconditional terms. Eisenhower understood that from the center of the conflict, the future was less than certain, and thus penned this in the event that the invasion did not work:

Our landings in the Cherbourg-Harve area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops.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.

Providence allowed a victory against savagery 62 years ago, and we should be grateful for that. But the world remains a place full of evil men intent on doing evil--may we never overlook, placate, nor accomodate that evil. And may we be willing to call it evil when we see it.

Posted by Terry Oglesby at June 6, 2006 09:33 AM
Comments

Dilbert Blog had a question a couple of days ago about WWII that astounded me. Now I know Scott Adams admits to not being a history buff, but he asserted (my interpretation) that the US had a choice about entering the war. I thought I had read something about an attack on a harbor somewhere and some European country declaring war on the US but it appears that we attacked fun loving Germans who were only vacationing in France, Belgium and Holland.

Posted by: Larry Anderson at June 6, 2006 10:10 AM

Well, that's true--we didn't HAVE to declare war against anyone. We could have just wallowed in self-pity and agonized over why the Japanese hated us so much.

And those poor misunderstood Nazis--just out for a simple stroll across western Europe! And eastern Europe. And northern Europe. And north Africa.

Obviously, it must have all been about oil.

Posted by: Terry Oglesby at June 6, 2006 10:18 AM

It was about oil and Lebensraum I believe which loosely translates as "beachfront property".

Posted by: Larry Anderson at June 6, 2006 10:21 AM

Thank goodness for Neville Chamberlain.

Posted by: Terry Oglesby at June 6, 2006 10:34 AM

One argument with your fine post. I would argue that it was more than Providence that allowed a victory against savagery. It was the dedication, perseverance, and ability of millions of young men fighting and dying for countries not their own, to free people not of their nation.

I know you knew that, but I figured if the doofus Scott Adams should bother reading this post, he needs to know that those young men had the choice to quit and hide, and they chose to leave those LSTs and fight. God allowed us victory, and our men reached out and took it.

(And why, oh why, do people who admit ignorance, insist on speaking out anyway? Read a d@mn book, get some education, and then speak out.)

Posted by: Skinnydan at June 6, 2006 01:01 PM

True--believing in justice and acting to ensure that justice is carried out aren't necessarily the same things.

I'm just glad that back then they only had Lord Haw-Haw. Since then, we've decided to duplicate him a thousand-fold, give him a doctorate, and put him in charge of Appeasement Studies at every university in the country. It's awfully difficult to put down injustice when you've got so many of your idle chit-chat class openly hoping for your defeat.

Posted by: Terry Oglesby at June 6, 2006 01:16 PM