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D Day Quotes

Browse 43 quotes about D Day.

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D Day Quotes

“Sixty-five years ago [written 2009], in a brief lull between storms in a remarkably stormy June, even by the standards of Channel weather, the heirs of Harold and the kinsmen of the Conqueror came to Normandy. They were supported by the remnants of their first, North American, empire, the two great nations that they had planted in the New World in the time of Good Queen Bess and James 6th and 1st: the Americans, who had rebelled in the name of the rights of Englishmen, and the Canadians, who had stood loyal in the name of the Crown. … The honours of these regiments are ancient and moving: Minden and Malplaquet, Mysore, Badajoz, Waterloo, Inkerman, Gallipoli, the Somme, Imjin. None shines more brightly than Normandy 1944. The paths of glory may lead but to the grave; yet all, even golden boys and girls, must come to dust. It is a better path to the grave than any of the others, not because glory is something to seek, but because, not once or twice in our long island story, the way of duty has been the path to glory; and duty is to be done. …Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers that begat us.”

RemembranceSecond World WarMilitary HistoryNormandyD Day
Author:G.M.W. Wemyss
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“Important days don't look like anything special when they start. Invariably, the sun rises and people wake up. Coffee is swilled and eggs are swallowed. Everybody goes about the business of acting like their lives matter and then, no matter how important the events of the day end up being, the sun invariably sets. The sun rose before the soldiers stormed Omaha Beach on D-Day, and the sun set after Archduke Franz Ferdinand was killed. Sunrises and sunsets are real jerks about putting things in perspective.”

PeopleLooksImportantRealEndsMatterRealityActingSunSpecialEventsPerspectiveWake UpRoseSoldierCoffeeBeachSunsetEggsSunriseJerkSun RiseSun SetOmahaD DaySunrise And SunsetImportant DaysOmaha Beach
Book:I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President
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“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.”

KnowsMenLooksMatterFeelingsFacesAsksReligiousSacrificeSkyPrayingBlessingRaisedMissionsKneesTroopsInvasionD Day
Author:Robert Lee Wolverton
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“We know that progress is not inevitable. But neither was victory upon these beaches. Now, as then, the inner voice tells us to stand up and move forward. Now, as then, free people must choose.”

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Book:Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton, 1994
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“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. 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.”

ThinkingHumansWarRememberWhiteBoysSacrificeHuman NatureCrossesGravesForestsFranceHorizonBuriedAntiwarGraveyardOrchardD DayDiagonal
Book:Animal Dreams: A Novel
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“There has never been a military operation remotely approaching the scale and the complexity of D-Day. It involved 176,000 troops, more than 12,000 airplanes, almost 10,000 ships, boats, landing craft, frigates, sloops, and other special combat vessels--all involved in a surprise attack on the heavily fortified north coast of France, to secure a beachhead in the heart of enemy-held territory so that the march to Germany and victory could begin. It was daring, risky, confusing, bloody, and ultimately glorious [p.25]”

HeartEnemySpecialMilitaryVictoryInvolvedSurpriseScalesShipsBoatSecureCraftsFranceOperationsComplexityGermanyGloriousMarchTerritoryCombatDaringAirplaneTroopsBloodyCoastConfusingVesselLandingD DayMilitary OperationsSurprise Attacks
Author:Tom Brokaw
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“Eisenhower had run the Army; he knew all the ways decision making can go off the rails, and insisted on collective debate precisely to prevent senior officials from freelancing, or putting their departmental interests first. For all the formal machinery, Eisenhower was very literally the commander in chief, making the key decisions himself and monitoring closely how they were carried out. Even years after D-Day, when critics needled him for not being on the front lines with the invading forces, he retorted, “I planned it and took responsibility for it. Did you want me to unload a truck?”

WayWantYearsFirstsRunningForceInterestLinesDecisionResponsibilityFrontsKeysArmyCriticsDebateChiefsOfficialsCollectivesDecision MakingWant MeFormalSeniorTruckMachineryCommandersRailYou Want MeCommander In ChiefMonitoringInvadingD Day
Book:The Presidents Club: Inside the World's Most Exclusive Fraternity
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“The Dead and Those About to Die is a gripping, first-hand account of the desperate battle for Omaha Beach on D-Day by the legendary 1st Infantry Division, the Big Red One. On the 70th anniversary of that momentous event, John C. McManus’s tale of courage under fire is a vivid reminder that freedom isn’t free and that when the chips are down stalwart American soldiers will always answer the call of duty.”

FirstsHandsBigsDiesAnswersFireEventsDutyBattleRedAccountsSoldierTalesBeachDesperateDivisionChipsRemindersVividLegendaryGrippingCall Of DutyAmerican SoldierInfantryOmahaD DayStalwartOmaha BeachInfantry Division
Author:Carlo D'Este
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“D-Day represents the greatest achievement of the american people and system in the 20th century. It was the pivot point of the 20th century. It was the day on which the decision was made as to who was going to rule in this world in the second half of the 20th century. Is it going to be Nazism, is it going to be communism, or are the democracies going to prevail?”

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Author:Stephen Ambrose
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