Dwight D. Eisenhower Quotes

four other pieces of equipment that most senior officers came to regard as among the most vital to our success in Africa and Europe were the bulldozer, the jeep, the 21/2-ton truck, and the C-47 airplane. Curiously enough, none of these is designed for combat.

I have always found plans usless, but planning indispensible

Tidak ada orang yang menang dalam perang. Yang ada hanya korban di semua pihak

Finally, it is always a good thing to move a headquarters when its personnel begin to get so well “dug in” as they were in Algiers — when directing staffs become too much concerned with the conveniences of living they grow away from troops and from the real problems of war.

"During his recitation of the relevant facts, I had been conscious of a feeling of depression and so I voiced to him my grave misgivings, first on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and secondly because I thought that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by use of a weapon whose employement was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives. It was my belief that Japan was, at that very moment, seeking some way to surrender with a minimum loss of "face." The secretary was deeply perturbed by my attitude, almost angrily refuting the reasons I gave for my quick conclusions."

The middle of the road is all of the usable surface. The extremes, right and left, are in the gutters.

To insure that none would be forgotten and that records for subordinates would always be available, we had resorted to an automatic recording system that proved most effective.

Long periods of inaction for regrouping are justified only by sheer necessity. Veteran troops realize that by continuing the advance and attack against a shaken enemy the greatest possible gains are made at minimum cost. Speed requires training, fitness, confidence, morale, suitable transport, and skillful leadership. Patton employed these tactics relentlessly, and thus not only minimized casualties but shook the whole Italian Government so forcibly that Mussolini toppled from his position of power in late July.[6

For me World War II was far too personal a thing to entertain such feelings. Daily as it progressed there grew within me the conviction that as never before in a war between many nations the forces that stood for human good and men’s rights were this time confronted by a completely evil conspiracy with which no compromise could be tolerated. Because only by the utter destruction of the Axis was a decent world possible, the war became for me a crusade in the traditional sense of that often misused word.

Soldiers like to see the men who are directing operations; they properly resent any indication of neglect or indifference to them on the part of their commanders and invariably interpret a visit, even a brief one, as evidence of the commander’s concern for them.

it will always be a crime to excuse men from the types and kinds of training that will give them a decent chance for survival in battle.

Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him.

Moreover, Middle East oil was a great prize.

Concerning the origination of plans and decisions: it is my conviction that no commander could normally take oath that a particular plan or conception originated within his own mind. Preoccupation with the concerns of his command are such that it is impossible for any person later to say whether the first gleam of an idea that may eventually have developed into a great plan came from within his own brain or from some outside suggestion. One of his problems is to keep his mind open, to avoid confusing necessary firmness with stubborn preconception or unreasoning prejudice.

Nothing creates trouble between allies so often or so easily as unnecessary talk — particularly when it belittles one of them. A family squabble is always exaggerated beyond its true importance.