“If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone.” — General Dwight D. Eisenhower, undelivered statement, June 5, 1944

The message was never broadcast. Never printed. Never heard. And yet it remains one of the most remarkable documents of World War II—a plain slip of paper, scribbled in pencil, misdated “July 5,” and folded into a shirt pocket by a man shouldering the weight of freedom’s gamble.

Had D-Day failed—had the beaches been bloodbaths without a breakthrough—General Dwight D. Eisenhower was prepared to take full responsibility.

Not with a press conference or a military tribunal. But with a handwritten note accepting all blame. Not naming subordinates. Not mentioning the enemy. Not even attempting an explanation.

He wrote, “The troops, the air, and the Navy did all that Bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone.”

That was the kind of man Eisenhower was.