[Kat]
Today is the 64th anniversary of D-Day when Allied Forces landed on Normandy Beach. Ace of Spades remembers and reminds us what could have been with the unread message of failure that Eisenhower had prepared prior to the invasion. Unlike many generals I could name today, Eisenhower was fully prepared to take responsibility for any plan he had enacted and its outcome. He had predicted at the outset that the Allied Forces might suffer up to 70% casualties. He briefed that reality to the leaders of the free world in an honest assessment of the probabilities of success.
Even though each of those leaders gave their consent, recognizing the desparation of the situation and the need to get back on the continent in force to defeat the Nazis, he believed that the weight of any failure would land squarely at his feet. But, beyond that, being the man who was about to order many other men, young and not so young, to their possible and probable deaths, he felt that weight more acutely than any other.
I always believed, more than just a morale booster, the reason that Eisenhower walked among the troops before the invasion, asking their names and where they were from, was so that he could remember. Remember them, remember the cost of war, "lest we grow to fond of it" and be reminded that, whatever the cause, whatever the purpose, they were not numbers, but men with names and faces.
Allied forces suffered nearly 25% casualties, KIA and WIA, not nearly as many as predicted, but enough out of a 160k strong force to make you realize that was no insignificant number. We should realize as well, within a week of that invasion, thousands of families received little yellow telegrams informing them that their son had been wounded or killed.
Thousands. For one day. And every day after as the Allies pushed into France and Germany.
Today, over 1500 American veterans of WWII die every day. Take a walk in the garden of stone and you will see the white marble rows growing with their names.
Like Eisenhower, when we see these men, we should ask them their names and their stories so that we, too, can remember.
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