Thursday 80th OneAnniversary of the D-Day invasion.
Our museum, Mercury One, is home to one of the most awe-inspiring treasures in our collection: the flag that flew on the landing craft that carried soldiers and tanks across the Channel on Normandy Day. The ship was sunk by the Germans at Omaha Beach, and one of the sailors went down to salvage the flag.
Let us never forget what honor really looks like and strive to emulate it in our own lives, starting today and every day.
That flag says it all about D-Day: it’s torn and frayed, but the stars still remain together.
This was the largest military operation in the history of the world. Three million Allied troops were sent across the Channel. No one knew whether it would succeed or fail. No one knew if Hitler was there waiting for them, or if he was still there. His troops were on high alert. If he hadn’t looked elsewhere, we would have failed.
Imagine being on the coast of England preparing to cross the Channel and having one of the most battle-experienced and technologically advanced armies waiting on your shores.
Eisenhower wrote a letterHe wrote it to everyone who was going, and it was distributed in a pamphlet to all soldiers preparing for Operation Overlord. He wrote:
You are about to embark on the great expedition for which we have been working for many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of freedom-loving people everywhere are with you.
Together with our brave allies and comrades 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 our own security in a free world.
Your mission will not be easy: the enemy is well trained, well equipped and used to fighting. He will fight fiercely.
But now it is 1944. Much has happened since the Nazi victory of 1940-1941. The United Nations has inflicted a crushing defeat on the Germans in field battles, in single combat. Our air raids have greatly reduced their air power and their ability to fight on the ground. The home front has given us an overwhelming superiority in arms and munitions and has put at our disposal large reserves of trained fighting men. The tables have been turned. Free peoples throughout the world are marching to victory.
I have complete confidence in your courage, dedication to duty, and fighting skill. We will accept nothing less than a total victory!
Good luck! And may the Almighty God bless you in this great and noble undertaking.
While they were reading it and, one by one, jumping on the channel, Franklin Roosevelt was on the radio talking about the fall of the Roman Empire.
The next day, as they landed on shore and progress was being made, President Franklin Roosevelt went on the radio again and delivered what would have been one of the most outrageous speeches ever made if it were made today.
imagine Your President He appeared on the show and said:
As I spoke last night about the fall of the Roman Empire, I learned at that very moment that the military forces of the United States and its allies were conducting another, much larger operation across the Channel — and so far, the operation has been successful.
But in this tragic time, I ask you to pray with me.
A president today, if he had said that much, would have stopped there, but Roosevelt continued.
Almighty God, our sons, the pride of our nation, have today begun a great effort, a struggle, to defend our Republic, our religion, our civilization, and to liberate suffering humanity.
Guide them in straightness and sincerity, give strength to their weapons, courage to their hearts, and steadfastness to their faith.
They will need your blessing. Their road will be long and hard, for the enemy is strong. He may push back our forces. Success may not come quickly, but we will return again and again. And we know that with your grace and the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.
They will be tried day and night without rest until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent with noise and flame. The souls of the people will be shaken by the violence of war.
These people have recently been drawn away from the path of peace. They are not fighting for the desire to conquer. They are fighting to end the conquest. They are fighting for liberation. They are fighting for justice, tolerance and goodwill among your people. They long for the fighting to end, to return to their homeland of rest.
Some will never return. Father, embrace them and welcome them into Your Kingdom as Your heroic servants.
And we at home who are the fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters and brothers of these brave soldiers fighting overseas, our thoughts and prayers are with them always. Almighty God, help us to rededicate ourselves with renewed faith in You in this time of great sacrifice.
Many have asked me to call on the nation to a special one-day prayer. But the road is long and the desire is great, so I ask the nation to commit itself to continued prayer. As we begin each new day and as each one ends, let us say a prayer and ask for your help in our efforts.
Strengthen us too, strengthen us to redouble our contributions to the physical and material support of our armed forces in their daily missions.
And let us keep our hearts strong, endure the hardships that come our way, and pass on courage to our sons wherever they may be.
And grant us faith, Lord: faith in you, faith in our sons, faith in one another, faith in our united struggle. May the sharpness of our minds never be dulled. May the influence of passing events, of fleeting, temporary things, never frustrate our indomitable resolve.
With your blessing we can triumph over the evil powers of the enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogance.
With your blessing, we will triumph over the evil powers of the enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogance. Save our nation and lead it, together with our sister nations, to a world unity that will bring about a sure peace that will not succumb to the machinations of immoral peoples, and a peace in which all peoples will be able to live in freedom and earn the just rewards of honest labor.
Almighty God, may your will be done.
Amen.
Can you imagine our president speaking like that today?
In the modern world, we have a serious problem with not even wanting to acknowledge our own shortcomings, and if we think honestly about the problems we face right now, it’s all our own fault.
Our irrepressible love of freedom overcomes the obligation of responsibility. We turn desire into a necessity, and there is no one to blame anymore, or at least, no one to blame.
Dwight Eisenhower is one of my favorite people in history. As a leader, he took responsibility for his failures as well as his successes. He said, “The world is looking to you. We will win,” yet that day he had a letter in his pocket asking to be released if things went wrong.
He said:
The landings failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn my forces. My decision to attack at this time and place was based on the best information available. The Army, Air Force and Navy did all they could with gallantry and devotion to duty. Any blame or fault incidental to this attempt is mine alone.
Now our politicians are trying to do something, they think they are very brave and noble, but they are not telling us what they are really fighting for.
It’s not Ukraine that is driving up gas prices. It’s their war against the climate. They are fighting a war against the planet and blaming everything for its effects, which are greedy politicians and the money printing of a totally criminally incompetent Federal Reserve.
Neither our Commander in Chief nor his government puppets show us what true leadership looks like. They never accept responsibility for their own actions; they always blame others.
Let us never forget what honor truly looks like and strive to emulate it in our own lives, starting today and every day.
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