On the evening of 5 June 1944, just hours before the D-Day landings in Normandy, General Dwight D. Eisenhower made one of the most important decisions of the Second World War. More than 150,000 Allied troops were about to cross the English Channel. Success was far from certain.
Knowing the invasion could fail, Eisenhower drafted a short statement to be released only if the operation ended in disaster. It was never delivered because the invasion succeeded.
The note read:
“Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops.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.”
Notice what he did not say. He did not blame the weather, faulty intelligence, his generals, or the troops. Before he knew the outcome, he had already accepted responsibility for the decision.
This is what responsibility looks like. It is not about guaranteeing success. It is about owning the choices we make and accepting the consequences, whatever they may be.
Read more: The Speech Eisenhower Never Gave on the Normandy Invasion
Hat Tip: Gapingvoid
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Image Credits: Midjourney
(Public Domain)
