European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 6, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Three words and Ike a Job was done cd o by Vince Crawley. Staff writer a Well  these three words spoken at 4 15 . Monday june 5, launched hundreds of thousands of armed men toward the French coast. Once the order was Given three years of planning and training gave Way to a Complex timetable of assaults that could not be halted. The order was irreversible. Once he had issued it Dwight d. Eisenhower a Job was done. Chain smoking six packs of cigarettes that Day the 53-year-old supreme Allied commander from Abilene kan., was left to endure what he later described As a the interminable wait that intervenes Between giving an order and learning of its Success or failure. He called the invasion Force a a great human Spring coiled for the moment when its Energy should be released and it would vault the English Channel in the greatest amphibious assault Ever fila Gen. Dwight d. Eisenhower confers with prime minister Winston Churchill in May 1944. V  he visited troops in the morning. He played cards. He tried to read a Western paperback. He psyched himself up to give a press conference. The original invasion Date june 5, had been postponed the previous morning because of Low Clouds High winds and Stormy Waters in the Channel. Delaying the attack Eisenhower said was a the most agonizing decision of my  despite Hurricane Force winds Early june 5, the weathermen claimed that a Lull of 36 hour would descend Over the Normandy coastline the following morning june 6. Eisenhower had More than just the weather to worry about. A week earlier his senior air commander sir Trafford Leigh Mallory had predicted the airborne portion of the plan would be suicidal resulting in catastrophic losses that would undermine the entire invasion. It would be a a futile Slaughter a Leigh Mallory said. Enemy tanks and artillery would rout the lightly armed paratroops while a at the most 30 percent of the glider loads will become effective for use against the  after hearing the advice Eisenhower had gone to his tent alone to think. He returned with his decision that the attack would go As planned. Still sometime on june 5, As the weather gradually cleared Eisenhower wrote a note and put it in his Wallet. It was his custom perhaps superstition to write before each invasion an announcement of its failure so that he would t have to search for words in the midst of disaster. On june 5, 1944, he wrote a your landings in the Cherbourg havoc area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and i have withdraw n 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 an blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine  he was so preoccupied that he mistakenly dated the message july 5. At 6 p.m., he and his chauffeur Kay Summersby a former Model and by Many accounts his Lover drove two hours to the.  of the 101st airborne div. If Leigh Mallory a warnings proved True in a few. Hours these men would jump to their deaths. The supreme Allied commander arrived unannounced and began to visit them to Cir faces tense and camouflaged Black As they waited to Board their planes for the night jump. Eisenhower a own face bore a a terrific Burden of decision and responsibility a recalled one paratrooper gel. Kermit Latta. The general paused at Lattas air plane speaking to one of the men there a what is your Job Soldier a. A ammunition bearer  a where is your Home a. A Pennsylvania  a did you get those shoulders working in a Coal mine a a yes  a Good Luck to you tonight  it was possible Eisenhower said later that there were tears in his eyes after meeting these paratroops. �?o.,. You know there arc going to be losses a he said. You would think if a Man did no to show a Little emotion it would show that he was probably a Little inhuman. You just had to make decisions,.�?� yet he said the visit to the paratroops also lifted his spirits somewhat that evening. A i found them in Fine fettle Many of them Joshin Gly admonishing me that i had no cause for worry since the 101st was on the  Summersby wrote in her diary a we returned to the 101st Headquarters with several members of his staff had some Coffee then proceeded to climb to the Ropoff the building to watch the aircraft circling Over the Field getting into formation. It was one of the most impressive sights that anyone could wish to see visibility was perfect All the stars were  Eisenhower she recalled saluted each air plane As it passed. Afterwards he turned away his shoulders slumped and walked toward the car seeming to be the loneliest Man in the world. A Well a Eisenhower said quietly a a it a  he looked into the sky and added a no one can Stop it   edition s i am editor a Bill Walker copy editor Mark a Jar Ion layout and design Peter Jaeger maps Sustrin Harris production Gunter Schroder Brian Smith a Michele Taylor. Anita May army a nervous Gen. Dwight d. Eisenhower said his spirits were lifted by his visit to 101st airborne div paratroops just before they boarded the planes for Normandy. Publisher editor Steven s. Hoffman a colonel Usan Bernard a. Zovistoski june 6, 1994 a stars and stripes commemorative edition 63