If blame or fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone
General Dwight D Eisenhower, Commander of Allied Forces, June 5, 1944.
It was short and to the point and, if delivered, would have signalled the most disastrous turning-point in World War Two. As 150,000 Allied troops poured onto the beaches of Normandy as they launched the D-Day landings to retake continental Europe and drive the Nazis back to Germany, General Dwight D Eisenhower, carried a hand-written four sentences in his wallet for a month, to be read if the invasion failed, taking full responsibility for the defeat.
Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops.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 any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone.