He missed out on serving in France during the Great War, but was the mastermind behind the greatest amphibious invasion in world history to take France back in World War II.

According to Tim Rives, Deputy Director at the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, Ike thought his military career would be impaired before it got underway.

 

Rives added that Ike’s move up from Lt. Colonel to Five Star General took years of devotion to his profession and country. Some of his peers even told Eisenhower that God was directing his path.

 

The Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum in Abilene is planning a couple of virtual events as the 76th anniversary of the D-Day invasion approaches.

On June 6th, 1944, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander during World War II, led the Allied Forces in the D-Day invasion of Normandy, France. Code-named Operation OVERLORD, this was the greatest invasion in human history that, less than a year later, led to the liberation of Europe from Adolf Hitler’s Nazi tyranny.

Details of planned virtual events:

Thursday, June 4 at 2 p.m.
D-Day: What If?
Historians Edward Lengel, National World War II Museum, and John McManus, Missouri University of Science and Technology, will discuss General Dwight Eisenhower’s unused “In Case of Failure Note,” and what it tells us about the invasion of Normandy on D-Day and Eisenhower’s character. Tim Rives of the Eisenhower Presidential Library will join the conversation to talk about how the library acquired the historic document and the steps taken to preserve and protect it.

Thursday, June 11 at 2 p.m.
D-Day+: How?
With troops successfully landed in Normandy, how do the Allies maintain the offensive with the enormous materiel needs of the troops? Historians Craig Symonds, U.S. Naval War College, and Rob Citino, National World War II Museum, discuss this very question. One part of the equation was constructing an artificial harbor. Eisenhower Presidential Library Curator William Snyder will moderate the discussion and share the backstory of the Mulberry Harbor model featured in the newly renovated exhibits.

How to join:

URL: meet.google.com/nfb-yjkm-sun

Telephone: 617-675-4444? (PIN: ?511 045 556 7306#)

(Please join 10 minutes early so the program may begin on time.)

Photo courtesy of the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum FB page.