D-Day: FDR and Churchill's "Mighty Endeavor"
I spent the 75th anniversary of D-Day at the FDR Presidential Library, Museum and Home (a National Park property) not far from where I live. They had a special exhibit called "D-Day: FDR and Churchill's 'Mighty Endeavor' " after the line from FDR's prayer to the nation on June 6, 1944. The Presidential Library was America's first and the only one that a sitting president governed from when not in Washington D.C. Churchill met with FDR here a number of times as did H.M. King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth (the late Queen Mother). Here are some photos from the day.
The FDR - Churchill partnership is featured in several places at the park:
Many other exhibits are on display in the Library and Museum. Here is the entrance to the special D Day exhibit:
Beside many iconic photos (such as this one), many artifacts were on display as well.
Among the artifacts on display was this encryption machine used to code and decode messages between FDR and Churchill:
Also on display were many letters and communications regarding D-Day planning and execution. Here are two examples a letter from King George to FDR and a letter from FDR to Churchill:
Among the documents on display was a wall with the dispatches from SHAEF HQ to FDR chronicling the progress of the day (here are two of them) and a map from the map room showing troop dispositions in the landing area (both marked "top Secret" and "eyes only"):
In addition to the documents, posters from the period were on display such as this one (one of the things I learned yesterday was that the U.K. provided 80% of the ships used on June 6):
Wall sized photos were everywhere. Here are a few -- a prayer service on June 5, newspaper coverage of the invasion, U.S. forces and British Commandos storming ashore on June 6, wounded U.S. soldiers waiting on the beach for evacuation, and the awful price the French paid in the landing (an estimated 13,000-20,000 civilians were killed in the shelling, bombing and ground fighting):
A very good film made of newsreels from the time called "Forged in Fire' was shown as part of the exhibit as well. One of the points it made was that FDR did not live to see the conclusion of the campaign against Germany. Here is a photo from the exhibit of Winston Churchill visiting FDR's grave at the Presidential Library (Eleanor Roosevelt can be seen standing to his right). Eleanor, too is buried at this site -- here is a photo I took yesterday of their graves (Eleanor in the foreground, FDR is nearer the tombstone with the flag on it. Behind the tombstone at a distance is the grave of Fala, the Roosevelt's famous black Scots Terrier):
The day concluded in the visitor's center with two talks -- one by a National Park Service historian about national memory and the changing image of D Day over the years. It was quite interesting to consider that the U.S. perspective on D Day may not be the same as that of the U.K., France, the Soviet Union, and certainly Germany. The major point being that the national memory of the event shapes the individual's perception of the event in history:
The other was an author talk and book signing regarding his book "Advocating Overlord" about the planning disputes and final agreement on the Normandy invasion;
Short of actually going to Normandy, I felt it was the best I could do to honor those brave people who risked so much on June 6, 1944.
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Originally Posted by NewFlyBoy
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