The quote in the title of this diary is the dedication at the beginning of author/historian Cornelius Ryan’s meticulously researched book A Bridge Too Far, about Operation Market-Garden which took place in WWII. If Ryan’s name at least is familiar, it’s likely because even young people know his best know work — The Longest Day which was a huge success as both a book and a movie. Ryan took active part in writing the screenplay for in fact. “The Longest Day” chronicled Operation Overlord, more commonly known as D-Day which is something you’ll be hearing & see a great deal about as June 6 is almost upon us. Overlord was a massive and complex operation, but it succeeded and gave the Allies the foothold on the European Continent that eventually led to us winning WWII. We learned about it over and over again in school when I was growing up.
That wasn’t the case with Market-Garden, an operation that if not as large was just as logistically complex and, had it succeeded would likely have greatly shortened the war there were at best only a couple of oblique references. Failures, especially ones that as large as this tend to be glossed over, and the failure of Market-Garden not only meant a lost chance to end the war quickly, but actually prolonged it for reasons I won’t go in to today. A “90%” success as Field Marshall Montgomery put it was meaningless if the entire purpose (the massive highway bridge over the Rhine at Arnhem, beyond which the Allies could have crossed into Germany and then into it’s industrial heart — called The Ruhr) behind such a massive effort that cost so many casualties (our own, Dutch civilians and even German).
War produces casualties and deaths (some of those deaths take years, or even decades to become final but still are the results of wars) whether individual battles are won or lost. Even for survivors, thoughts of those they served with who were killed or wounded stick with them for the rest of their lives. On this of all days, it is our duty to remember and honor the service and sacrifice of those who took part in wars, especially those who gave their lives (whether lost in the war zone itself or later on), as well as the service of those who have treated the wounds (both physical & psychological) be they military medical personnel, brothers/sisters in arms or family and friends. There are a lot of wounds born by medical caregivers, family and friends that themselves lead to casualties including death.
Ryan’s book A Bridge Too Far was published months before his death in 1974. He knew he was dying but clearly all those decades of work researching battle plans and action reports, interviewing many hundreds of participants both famous & unknown down to buck privates that began in 1949 had a profound effect on him. He struggled to complete A Bridge Too Far, choosing to leave behind notes about his own lost fight against prostate cancer so someone else could write that work (A Private Battle). For him, telling the stories of those who fought and died was too important. He wanted us to know. And more importantly remember.
I believe it was knowing his own end was near, and that his lifetime of telling not the glossy & glorified versions of major events but rather the whole story warts & all, his desire to ensure that his work truly represented the troops and not mostly just their leaders was the inspiration for the dedication at the beginning of his last book:
“For them all….”