Why D-Day Quotes?
June 6, 1944, was a fine Tuesday morning which came to be known as 'D-Day'. On this D-Day, a landing operation with the codename Operation Neptune took place. It was the biggest seaborne invasion in the history of armed operations.
It marked the beginning of the farewell to World War II. D-Day marks the 78th Anniversary of the Battle of Normandy, where allied forces from 13 countries marched into five beaches in France (Normandy).
The attack was the most significant military invasion ever assembled. Read along to explore great quotes from world leaders or historians. You can share them with your friends and family and remember those moments of war.
What Parents Should Know
- D-Day is the nickname for a particular day when a military operation is carried out. The term became synonymous with the Battle of Normandy.
- The Battle of Normandy was led by The Unites States Army General Dwight Eisenhower and began on June 6. The battle came to an end in August 1944.
- The battle freed the city of Paris and Northern France from the dictatorship of the Nazis of Germany.
What To Discuss With Kids
- June 6, 1944, draws a golden line in the history of freedom fights and military invasions.
- Around 150,000 soldiers from Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom landed on Normandy. The freedom movement for liberating Europe began.
- The battle was planned under the code Operation Overlord.
- D-Day is the nickname for a specific day when a military operation is set to be carried out. It was synonymous with the Normandy landings commanded by the General of the United States Army, Dwight Eisenhower.
Inspiring D-Day Quotes
"Now once more a supreme test has to be faced. This time the challenge is not to fight to survive but to fight to win the final victory for the good cause." - King George VI
"I don't feel that I'm any kind of hero. To me, the work had to be done. I was asked to do it. So I did. When I lecture kids, I tell them the same thing." - Private First Class Joe Lesniewski
"If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone." - General Dwight Eisenhower (in a draft of notes he’d made in case the invasion was a failure)
"Rangers, lead the way!" - First Lieutenant Francis W. Dawson (Company D, 5th Ranger Infantry Battalion)
"I cherish the memories of a question my grandson asked me the other day when he said, 'Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?' Grandpa said, 'No, but I served in a company of heroes.'" - Major Richard Winters
"We have a sufficiency of troops; we have all the necessary tackle; we have an excellent plan. This is a perfectly normal operation which is certain of success. If anyone has any doubts in his mind, let him stay behind." - General Bernard L. Montgomery (Commander of the 21st Army Group)
Memorable D-Day Quotes
"All that remained on the beach was some sniping and artillery fire, and the occasional startling blast of a mine geysering brown sand into the air." - Ernie Pyle's World War II Dispatch
"I remember looking it over and thinking it was a forest of graves. But the rows were like this, dizzying, diagonal, perfectly straight, so after all it wasn't a forest but an orchard of graves. Nothing to do with nature, unless you count human nature." - Barbara Kingsolver
"No thoughts had I of anything, or at least that's what I thought; I even thought I couldn't think, but now I think I never thought." - Christopher Miller
"Men, I am not a religious man and I don't know your feelings in this matter, but I am going to ask you to pray with me for the success of the mission before us.
And while we pray, let us get on our knees and not look down but up with faces raised to the sky so that we can see God and ask His blessing in what we are about to do."
- Lieutenant Colonel Robert L. Wolverton (commanding officer of 3rd battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment)
"I am firmly convinced that our supporting naval fire got us in; that without the gunfire we positively could not have crossed the beaches." - Colonel Stanhope B. Mason (Chief of Staff, 1sr Infantry Division)
"There's a graveyard in northern France where all the dead boys from D-Day are buried. The white crosses reach from one horizon to the other. I remember looking it over and thinking it was a forest of graves." - Barbara Kingsolver
"When pressure mounts and strain increases, everyone begins to show the weaknesses in his makeup, it is up to the Commander to conceal his: above all to conceal doubt, fear, and distrust." - General Dwight D. Eisenhower
"God almighty, in a few short hours, we will be in battle with the enemy. We do not join battle afraid.
We do not ask favors or indulgence but ask that, if you will, use us as your instrument for the right and an aid in returning peace to the world." - Lieutenant Colonel Robert L. Wolverton (commanding officer of 3rd battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment)
"Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity." - President Franklin D. Roosevelt
"It was a different world then. It was a world that required young men like myself to be prepared to die for a civilization that was worth living in." - Harry Read (British D-Day veteran)
Powerful D-Day Quotes
"At this historic moment surely not one of us is too busy, too young, or too old to play a part in a nation-wide, perchance a worldwide vigil of prayer as the great crusade sets forth." - King George VI (radio address, 6 June 1944)
"Four years ago our nation and empire stood alone against an overwhelming enemy, with our backs to the wall." - King George VI (in a radio address, 6 June 1944)
"War is a bloody, killing business. You've got to spill their blood, or they will spill yours. Rip them up the belly." - General George S Patton's speech given ahead of the Allied invasion
"They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate." - President Franklin D. Roosevelt's official address announcing the invasion
"I'll be there waiting for you and I'll tell you what to do. There ain't anything in this plan that is going to go right." - Colonel Paul R. Goode (in a pre-attack briefing to the 175th Infantry Regiment)
"Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well-trained, well equipped, and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely. 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." - General Dwight D. Eisenhower
Famous D-Day Quotes
"This is a very serious business." - Photographer Robert Capa on Omaha Beach
"These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war." - President Ronald Reagan, on the 40th Anniversary of D-Day
"I took chances on D-Day that I never would have taken later in the war." - First Sergeant C. Carwood Lipton (506th Parachute Regiment, 101st Airborne Division)
"The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you." - General Dwight D Eisenhower
"And what a plan! This vast operation is undoubtedly the most complicated and difficult that has ever occurred." - British Prime Minister Winston Churchill
