Eisenhower speaks with U.S. Army paratroopers before D-Day invasion deployment, June 5, 1944, Greenham Common Airfield,England
"It would be difficult to conceive of a more soul-racking problem." - Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower
It had been determined that the success of the June 6, 1944, Allied Normandy Landing, "might well turn on the success of the paratroopers behind the lines."
Four days before the invasion, it was estimated that the 75% of the paratroopers might be killed or wounded before reaching the ground. But if the paratroopers did not seize and secure the causeways, the landing on the beach would have little success. After a great deal of soul searching, Eisenhower sent in the paratroopers.
On June 5, Eisenhower went to the Greenham Common Airfield, England to see the men off. In this iconic photo, Eisenhower is seen talking to Lt. Wallace C. Strobel. Strobel is wearing the number 23 around his neck. The number signified that he was the jumpmaster of plane number 23 in the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. Strobel and a second man can be seen wearing a live Hawkins Mine (used to blow the tread off a tank) strapped to their leg.
Eisenhower and Strobel talked about fishing in Strobel’s home state of Michigan.
"Eisenhower told Capt. L. 'Legs' Johnson, 'I've done all I can, now it is up to you.' He told a group of enlisted men not to worry, that they had the best equipment and leaders in the world, with a vast force coming in behind them. A sergeant from Texas piped up, 'Hell, we ain't worried, General. It's the Krauts that ought to be worrying now.'"
Eisenhower had gone to see the boys off to boost their morale. Stobel would later note, “I honestly think it was his morale that was improved by being with us."
“A Red Cross worker was at the airfield passing out doughnuts and hot coffee to the paratroopers that night when Ike drove up. She gave him a cup of coffee, too. But, then, she noticed his hand was shaking so badly the coffee threatened to spill over -- could burn him -- and eased the cup out of his hand.”
Eisenhower would later recount, "The airborne boys did their job. …. And, I am happy to say, the casualties were only 8%."