Re: A question on terms

From: DOCAgren@aol.com 

> What does the D in D-Day stand for? Was in asked this in game tonight,
and 
> I'm not sure. 

As a lot of things of this nature, there is no real consensus on what it
means. There are four main answers: D stood for day, as in D-Day,
H-Hour, etc.; D stood for Debarkation; D stood for Disembarkation; D
stood for Decision (this latter one apparently even made it into a
school textbook).

Here's what the National D-Day Museum's web site has to say about it
(found at http://www.ddaymuseum.org/education_studentsfactd.html and if
you ever find yourself in New Orleans, I _strongly_ advise you to visit
it).

"In Stephen Ambrose's D-Day, June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World
War II, he writes, Time magazine reported on June 12 [1944] that "as far
as the U.S. Army can determine, the first use of D for Day, H for Hour
was in Field Order No. 8, of the First Army, A.E.F., issued on Sept. 20,
1918, which read, 'The First Army will attack at H-Hour on D-Day with
the object of forcing the evacuation of the St. Mihiel salient.'" (p.
491) In other words, the D in D-Day merely stands for Day. This coded
designation was used for the day of any important invasion or military
operation. For military planners (and later historians), the days before
and after a D-Day were indicated using plus and minus signs: D-4 meant
four days before a D-Day, while D+7 meant seven days after a D-Day.

"In Paul Dickson's War Slang, he quotes Robert Hendrickson's
Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins. Many explanations have been
given for the meaning of D-Day, June 6, 1944, the day the Allies invaded
Normandy from England during World War II. The Army has said that it is
"simply an alliteration, as in H-Hour." Others say the first D in the
word also stands for "day," the term a code designation. The French
maintain the D means "disembarkation," still others say "debarkation,"
and the more poetic insist D-Day is short for "day of decision." When
someone wrote to General Eisenhower in 1964 asking for an explanation,
his executive assistant Brigadier General Robert Schultz answered:
"General Eisenhower asked me to respond to your letter. Be advised that
any amphibious operation has a 'departed date'; therefore the shortened
term 'D-Day' is used." (p.146)"

Thats as close to an official answer as you'll get.

Note that "D-Day" was used for every amphibious operation involving
Americans, including the landings in Italy and in the Pacific. We just
think of June 6, 1944 as "D-Day" because of the importance and scale of
that operation.

--
Allan Goodall 

agoodall@att.net 
agoodall@hyperbear.com 
http://www.hyperbear.com