Posted on 06/06/2007 1:29:52 PM PDT by Retain Mike
On the evening before D-Day, Eisenhower left SHAEF headquarters at 6 PM and traveled to Newbury where the 101st Airborne was boarding for the invasion. To the last moment Ike's air commander Leigh-Mallory saw only tragedy from the air assault, predicting hundreds of planes and gliders would be shot down by German artillery and aircraft. Ike remained just as committed to the idea that the risk needed to be taken. Ike arrived at 8 PM and did not leave until after 11 PM when the last C-47 was airborne.
In My Three Years with Eisenhower Captain Harry C. Butcher says, "We saw hundreds of paratroopers with blackened and grotesque faces, packing up for the big hop and jump. Ike wandered through them, stepping over, packs, guns and a variety of equipment such as only paratroop people can devise, chinning with this and that one. All were put at ease. He was promised a job after the war by a Texan who said he roped, not dallied, his cows, and at least there was enough to eat in the work. Ike has developed or disclosed an informality and friendliness with troopers that almost amazed me".
In Crusade in Europe Dwight D. Eisenhower say, "I found the men in fine fettle, many of them joshingly admonishing me that I had no cause for worry, since the 101st was on the job and everything would be taken care of in fine shape. I stayed with them until the last of them were in the air, somewhere about midnight. After a two hour trip back to my own camp, I had only a short time to wait until the first news should come in".
One of the first reports was from Leigh-Mallory with good news that only 29 of 1,250 C-47's were missing and only four gliders were unaccounted for. That morning Leigh-Mallory sent a message congratulating Ike on the wisdom of his command decision, and saying he never had greater pleasure in admitting he was wrong.
Translated into 21st Century MSM lingo, that would read, "Allies lose three dozen aircraft in first stage of surge. Losses anticipated to mount in coming days. German anti-air crews display tenacious defense of territory in the face of coalition invaders."
Not familiar with that book. Was Capt. Butcher a Brit? The aside about how familiar Ike was with the troops is the kind of thing that tips it.
I was thinking today of a trooper of the 101st that I met a few years ago. He was a small man, about 5'6" tall, and he said he weighed 155 pounds when he jumped out of a C-47 into the darkness over France, festooned from helmet to boots with 100 pounds of gear. He was 19 years old.
I asked him what he remembered; he said, "I made it out alive."
He must have been a personal aide then. Generals usually rate an Army captain as an aide.
I inferred from the reaction to the officer-enlisted familiarity that the officer might have been a British naval captain serving in a joint staff capacity. Many of Ike's joint staff chiefs were British (like Leigh-Mallory).
I shiver at the reality of that statement! Can you imagine what the outcome of that war would have been with the press coverage of today?
Generals start with First Lieutenants (for a Brigadier General) and progress upwards with rank.
I was one (1LT aide-de-campe for a Brigadier General).
He was a reserve Navy captain, who knew Eisenhower as a major. I think I remember he worked for a newpaper before the war, but I can’t find that info in the book’s preface.
I know that I might be getting into trouble with this but Patton (a 3-star) had a captain as an aide... so did Bradley (even after he received his 4th star). Ike evidently had a captain, too.
Is it possible that the rank-escalator for generals' aides didn't come in until a later period?
How was you're experience as a general's "dog robber"? Did you get a good posting afterward?
Reporters were kept on a tight-leash and there was Press censorship -- neither of which is possible today.
The thing that ticks me off is that the longer this war goes on, the more that the Media has come to rely on local stringers (read Iraqi's) to do their legwork for them. I'm betting an increasing number of those 'reporters' are working for the other team.
Currently, rank does escalate with the GO’s rank.
Our corps commander (V Corps - Lieutenant General) had a Lieutenant Colonel and the assistand corps commander, who was a Major General, had a Captain for an aide.
I left active duty to continue my education, but the experience was well worth it. Imagine being the only lieutenant in a room full of GOs discussing some very serious issues. Fly on the wall, so to speak.
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