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Eighty years ago this week almost three million allied troops, amassed in Southern England, readied themselves for the long awaited assault against Hitler’s vaunted Atlantic Wall.
The assault force included 2,200 allied bomber crews tasked with attacking targets along the coast and inland and more than 1,200 transport aircraft and their crews designated with delivering 24,000 American, British, and Canadian airborne assault troops who would land behind Nazi lines and secure exits from the beachheads.
On the sea, the largest armada in history, made up of more than 4,000 American, British, and Canadian ships and their crews, stood read to deliver six Allied divisions and numerous small units consisting of more than 160,000 troops to five beaches while providing cover and bombardment against German positions. The landing force included 73,000 Americans and 83,115 British and Canadian forces.
The assault began shortly after midnight on June 6, 1944, with an air bombardment and followed hours later with the insertion of the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions behind the German lines. The first landings at Juno, Sword, Gold, Utah and Omaha beaches began at 6:30am – H-Hour – and carried on throughout D-Day and those that followed.
Prior to their departure for France, American General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces issued his Order of the Day to his troops, which read:
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 hope 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 beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.
By day’s end, though none of the assault forces had secured their first-day objectives, they had obtained a tenuous foothold which they gradually expanded over the next few months before breaking out of Normandy on August 15th and liberating Paris on August 25th. With the German retreat across the Seine, and more than 2 million Allied troops occupying France, Eisenhower’s confidence in his men had been vindicated.
But what if it hadn’t been?
Eisenhower had originally intended Operation Overlord to begin in May but had pushed the start date back due to a lack of available landing craft. After setting D-Day for June 5, 1944, terrible weather on the morning of June 4, 1944, resulted in the issuance of another 24-hour delay. Finally, with meteorologists predicting a small window of opportunity the following day, Eisenhower gave the operation his reluctant approval in the pre-dawn hours of June 5. “I don’t like it,” he told his generals, “but we have to go.
Against this tense backdrop of rough seas, uncertain forecasts and related timing dilemmas predicated on the need for optimal tides, Overlord’s success was far from assured. In fact, Eisenhower understood that it could easily turn into a colossal failure.
And so, after giving the go ahead and drafting his Order of the Day, the General scribbled a second note (accidentally dated July 5). It read:
“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.”
On the hastily written note you can see where Eisenhower crossed out the impersonal, original language of “This particular operation” and replaced it with “My decision to attack,” and then underlined the phrase “mine alone” in a bold, dark stroke of his pencil. Eisenhower understood that history’s eyes were upon him. He knew what was at stake for both his reputation and the world, if the mission failed, which makes the edits even more impressive. If Overlord failed, Eisenhower made clear that he alone would own it.
Contrast Eisenhower’s leadership with the blame-casting and lack of accountability in the wake of the chaotic fall of Kabul and the death of 13 U.S. service members and hundreds of others at Hamid Karzai International Airport in August 2021. Almost three years have passed and no one from the Department of Defense has been fired, fallen on their sword or resigned in protest. Nowadays, unfortunately, the buck stops with no one.
Ike never needed the note that he placed in his wallet on June 5, 1944. But by writing it, he demonstrated a straight spined character that is sorely lacking 80 years later. You would do well to remember his example the next time you are tempted to take a “mistakes were made” approach to a screw up that you oversaw.
As Eisenhower demonstrates, leaders don’t claim jump when things go right and they don’t duck out on responsibility when things go pear shaped. No, a true leader gives their people the credit for success and gives themself the blame for failure.
Kristofor Healey is a former award winning Special Agent who spend more than 15 years investigating large scale tele-fraud and public corruption cases for DHS. He is now an author and professional speaker. He shares daily stoic quotes, relatable stories, and journal prompts in his new book, In Valor: 365 Stoic Meditations for First Responders and on his FREE Substack channel, The Stoic Responder. He is available for speaking through the Team Never Quit Speakers Bureau.
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Source: www.lawofficer.com