The Longest Day/Awesome: Difference between revisions

* [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] - against his own cautious nature - gives the order to go. This is so audacious a move for him that the German officer trained to play as Eisenhower for war games didn't think the Allied commander would do it.

** Not related to the movie but in [[Real Life]], Eisenhower wrote two letters to be read. One to the troops, commending them on taking a risky operation. The second was a letter in case the invasion failed, in which Eisenhower was willing to [[It's All My Fault|accept the blame]]<ref>"Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops.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."</ref>.The second letter was never read because Normandy was successful, and was almost discarded except for a junior officer who found it. The second letter - highlighting the responsibility of leadership - became just as famous as the first letter.

* General Roosevelt, upon finding his Utah Beach landing is too far off-course, decides to "Start the war from right here" and guides the rest of his forces to that spot. In [[Real Life]] he even reconned the area with minimum cover, risking his life. His decision proved right as the improvised landing site was actually easier to deploy troops than the planned site.

** He insisted on leading the landing himself - even with his frail health that would kill him a month later.