if any blame, fault
attaches to the attempt
it is mine alone
80 years later it is difficult to think much about DDay except that it worked out okay.
My Dad landed at Utah Beach three weeks later as the beach was used for landing the rest of the Army of the United States, the army made up of draftee’s and volunteers, as opposed to the United States Army or regular army, the professional army.
From my Dad’s stories, by the time his unit went across the English Channel to France, it wasn’t much more than a ferry ride.
Hard to imagine that the operation could have failed.
One guy did have that much imagination and he was the guy in charge of the whole thing.
The guy who ultimately gave the order to go.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower.
In his papers there is a hand written note dated June 5.
It is a draft of a press release to be made in case the operation FAILED.
Brief, to the point, the General wrote:
Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops.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.
That last line.
If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone.
More character, courage and back bone in that one sentence than has been expressed online, on air or anywhere by any politician on any topic in recent memory.
They don’t make them like that anymore and it shows.
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