D-Day Plus 61 Years

Order of the Day
June 6, 1944

"Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Forces: 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 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 all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking."

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower
Supreme Allied Commander
Allied Expeditionary Force

61 years ago today, 156,000 allied troops from the United States, Grean Britain, Canada, Australia, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Poland invaded Hitler's "Fortess Europe."

Approximately 10,000 allied soldiers became casualties on D-Day, with 2,500 killed. Between 4,000-9,000 Germans soldiers also became casualties on D-Day.

All told, the Battle of Normandy which began June 6, 1944 led to over 425,000 Allied and German troops killed, wounded, or missing.

Less than one year later, VE-Day--Victory In Europe-- was declared on May 9, 1945.

Please take a moment to remember the brave soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilians on both sides that partipated in the liberation of Europe.

Links:
National D-Day Memorial (US)
D-Day Museum (UK)
National D-Day Museum Foundation (US)
American Experience| D-Day (US)
D-Day, Normandy, and Beyond
Normandy, 1944
Operation Overlord: The Invasion of Fortress Europe

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Felt Sponges

“Grandpa, I Love You To Death... But I've Gots Bills To Pay”

Was anyone else more than slightly creeped out by the Felt family's enthusiasm to cash in on their doddering 91-year-old grandfather's mysterious legacy as Deep Throat before he dies?

...Felt's daughter Joan, who persuaded her 91-year-old father to go public as "Deep Throat," lamented that the Post's Bob Woodward would get all the credit -- and profit--if Felt went to the grave with his secret.

"We could make at least enough money to pay some bills like the debt I've run up for the kids' education," she told Felt, according to the article. "Let's do it for the family."

Yes, you have to love a family that pimps out their pre-mortem grandpa.They might as well be humming some of Stephen Lynch's Grandfather

A stroke would be nice
Disease would be cool
I'll scatter his ashes
In my new swimming pool
I'll party with Hef
I'll dine with the Queen
So what say we unplug that machine?

Oh Grandfather, die
Before the fiscal year
Oh Grandfather, I
Wish Kevorkian were here
Oh Grandfather, die
Just take your final bow
Oh Grandfather, die
Family hates you anyhow...

Such behavior should be hardly surprising. Felt simply taught his kids to take the advice he gave to Bob Woodward as Deep Throat.

"Follow the money".

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Footnotes

An excerpt of John Dean's comments regarding W. Mark Felt, who has recently come forward as the famed informant known for 33 years only as “Deep Throat.”

“I never thought he was in the loop to have the information," John Dean, counsel in Nixon's White House and the government's top informant in the Watergate investigation, told The Associated Press. "How in the world could Felt have done it alone?"

Dean said he couldn't see how Felt, then in charge of the FBI's day-to-day operations, could have had time to rendezvous with reporters in parking garages and leave clandestine messages to arrange meetings. Perhaps FBI agents helped him, Dean suggested.

I don't much care about whether Deep Throat was only W. Mark Felt, or a composite character Woodward and Bernstein made up of several sources. As I mentioned briefly in Ace's comments last night, a 33-year old story doesn't suddenly become newsworthy simply because a character's name changed. It would hardly matter if Lee Harvey Oswald's real name turned out to be Chippy the Wonder Squirrel; the historical record remains the same, only the footnotes change.

What really matters is that a free press (with help) was able to help rein in criminal behavior at the highest levels of American government. What matters is that in this nation, reporters don't have to fear a knock at the door in the middle of the night if they publish a story the government doesn't like. What matters is that Deep Throat, Woodward, and Bernstein were able to help depose a corrupt government using the truth, the law, and the press instead of a bloody coup. That is the legacy of Watergate.

All the rest is footnotes.

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