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The sheer numbers of the operation are staggering. It included 176,000 men supported by 13,000 aircraft and 5,000 ships spread out over 60 miles of beachfront. It was the largest seaborne invasion force the world had ever seen.
General Eisenhower described it as “a great human spring, coiled for the moment when its energy would be released, and it would vault the English Channel in the greatest amphibious assault ever attempted.”
On the evening of the assault, FDR took to the airwaves to offer up a prayer for our troops.
While the words of FDR’s D-Day prayer have been inscribed on a plaque at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., one overlooked piece of history can be found in certain words spoken by the president at the beginning of his D-Day prayer.
FDR began his prayer this way: “Almighty God, Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our republic, our religion, and our civilization . . .”
An interesting and forgotten piece of history can be found in Roosevelt’s belief that the struggle America found herself in was one to not only preserve our republic and civilization but also to “preserve our religion.”
The Defense of Christianity
Roosevelt not only believed the strike on the Beaches of France during the D-Day landing was one in which Americans were defending Christianity itself, but he also believed the entire war was one in which Christianity was under assault.
In an address before Congress a few months prior, on March 1, Roosevelt drew a distinction between Christianity and the German military:
“I SAW SEVASTOPOL and Yalta! And I know that there is not room enough on earth for both German militarism and Christian decency.”
On April 28, 2942, during a Fireside Chat, Roosevelt declared that our enemy had betrayed Christianity:
“THIS GREAT WAR effort must be carried through … It shall not be imperiled by the handful of noisy traitors — betrayers of America, betrayers of Christianity itself.”
On May 27, 1941, FDR declared this great war was fought against Christian ideals:
“THE WHOLE WORLD is divided between . . . pagan brutality and the Christian ideal. We choose human freedom, which is the Christian ideal.”
During a Labor Day Address on September 1, 1941, FDR again declared that the rights of Americans and the hope of Christian civilization rested on our victory:
“PRESERVATION OF THESE rights is vitally important now, not only to us who enjoy them but to the whole future of Christian civilization.”
While giving a speech in Brooklyn, New York, on November 1, 1940, FDR stated that the forces of the enemy hated Christianity:
“THOSE FORCES HATE democracy and Christianity as two phases of the same civilization. They oppose democracy because it is Christian. They oppose Christianity because it preaches democracy.”
Just a few days earlier, on October 28 at Madison Square Garden, FDR was almost prophetic with his comments:
”WE GUARD AGAINST the forces of anti-Christian aggression, which may attack us from without, and the forces of ignorance and fear, which may corrupt us from within.”
Today, this is where we find ourselves. We are still being attacked by anti-Christian forces, but in the meantime, we have fallen prey to the forces of ignorance from within.
Many of us are ignorant of our Christian history as a nation. Many of us are ignorant of the Christian beliefs of our founding fathers as well as recent presidents. Many of us are ignorant of the current attack of opposing forces on the very foundation of Christianity and its guiding principles.
May the forgotten history of FDR’s D-Day prayer bring us back to what we once knew.
The Dean’s List with Dean Bowen on America Out Loud Talk Radio can be heard on weekdays at 2 pm ET. Listen on iHeart Radio, our world-class media player, or our free Apple, Android, or Alexa apps. Listen to all the episodes of The Dean’s List, available on podcast.
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