Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt, D-Day Prayer, June 6, 1944 - The National WWII Memorial 🇺🇸

[appalachiablue]

Last edited Tue Jun 18, 2024, 09:39 AM - Edit history (1)

- FDR's D-Day Prayer. (7 mins). On June 6, 1944, President Franklin Roosevelt's usual "fireside chat" would be replaced with a joint prayer with the American people. On the evening of June 6, 1944, the President made a radio broadcast to address the nation for the first time since Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy. - The transcript of that national radio broadcast is included below: "A MIGHTY ENDEAVOR" FDR'S D-DAY PRAYER:

"My fellow Americans: Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far. And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer.
Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity. Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith. They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard...
https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/franklin-d-roosevelts-d-day-prayer-june-6-1944

- The National WWII Memorial, National Mall, Wash., D.C. Narrated by Tom Hanks, (5 mins).
- WW II Memorial, National Park Service. Service, Sacrifice, Unity, and Victory. Through stone architecture and bronze sculptures, the World War II Memorial recognizes the ways Americans served, honors those who fell, and recognizes the victory they achieved to restore freedom and end tyranny around the globe...
https://www.nps.gov/wwii/index.htm

🇬🇧 (2 mins). The English Channel, White Cliffs of Dover, England (Kent) viewed from Calais, France. (As a student I saw these waters one summer on a ferry trip from England to France. Decades later, I learned my father trained in southern England during WWII and crossed the Channel to serve in the Rhineland campaign).
------
- Strait of Dover, England, Pas de Calais 🇨🇵
The Strait of Dover or Dover Strait (French: Pas de Calais - Strait of Calais), is the strait at the narrowest part of the English Channel, marking the boundary between the Channel and the North Sea, and separating Great Britain from continental Europe.

- The shortest distance across the strait, at approximately 20 miles (32 kilometres), is from the South Foreland, northeast of Dover in the English county of Kent, to Cap Gris Nez, a cape near to Calais in the French département of Pas-de-Calais. Between these points lies the most popular route for cross-channel swimmers. The entire strait is within the territorial waters of France and the United Kingdom, but a right of transit passage under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea allows vessels of other nations to move freely through the strait.

- On a clear day, it is possible to see the opposite coastline of England from France and vice versa with the naked eye, with the most famous and obvious sight being the White Cliffs of Dover from the French coastline and shoreline buildings on both coastlines, as well as lights on either coastline at night, as in Matthew Arnold's poem "Dover Beach"...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait_of_Dover