D-Day 1994

Associat At a D-Day commemoration in Portsmouth, England, yesterday were, Slovakia; President Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic: P from right, President Clinton: Hillary Rodham Clinton; President Lech Minister John Major of Britain, and his wife, Norma. They watche Walesa of Poland and his wife, Danuta; President Michal Kovac of drumhead ceremony, signifying that "the forces are committed." REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK Retracing History: Clinton's 20-Something Aides By MAUREEN DOWD Special to The New York Times CODE NAMES PORTSMOUTH, England, June 5 - President Clinton and his top White House aides have only read the histo- Where 'D-Day' and 'H-Hour' Came From ry that many here have lived through. And as the Administration flotilla started across the Channel to re-cre- The Allied invasion of France was such a momentous operation There was even a code name for ate the invasion of Normandy, there was an extraordinary endeavor, - the day of all days, so to speak something that never existed. This were signs everywhere that this is not but the expression D-Day has a the phrase D-Day became associ- was Fortitude South, an Allied exactly the Lindy Hop, Spam fritter rather ordinary history. The term ated with it. scheme in which a mythical army, and "Pennsylvania 6-5000" crowd. had been used long before June 6, 1944. The invasion also spawned nu- supposedly under Gen. George S. In a fashion statement that it is Patton, was simulated in south- D-Day originally meant nothing merous code names. hard to imagine Brent Scowcroft eastern England by dummy land- more than the day on which an making, Calvin Mitchell 3d, a Nation- The overall plan was called ing craft, inflatable rubber tanks envisioned military operation al Security Council official on the D- Overlord, a Churchill touch. The and phony wireless communica- would be started. Day memorial tour, wore a gold hoop Phrases using repetitive initials seaborne assault was Operation tions. The idea was to convince the in his left ear. Neptune. The buildup in Britain German commanders that the in- go back at least as far as World was Bolero. The American beaches vasion could well come at Calais - War I and may have first been At 32, Dee Dee Myers, the White were Omaha and Utah (H-Hour for across the narrowest part of the used in a Sept. 7, 1918, field order of House Press Secretary, is so young the United States First, Fourth and English Channel - so that tens of the Allied Expeditionary Force in- that her father was a Navy flier not in volving the campaign at the St. 29th Divisions was 6:30 A.M.), the thousands of German troops would World War II but in Vietnam. British beaches Gold and Sword, be kept on guard there, far from Mihiel salient in France. "The Andrew Friendly, the President's the Canadian beach Juno. The arti- Normandy. First Army will attack at H-Hour 25-year-old personal aide, had trouble ficial harbors set down off the on D-Day," the order read. getting in to do the advance work on a beaches were known as Mulber- It worked, helping make June 6, Because the Normandy invasion restaurant in the Eiffel Tower where ries. 1944, the biggest D-Day of them all. Mr. Clinton was considering dining with his Ambassador, Pamela Harri- man, because the managers were Do's and Dont's ing hand by spreading "distrust" how to wear them. All clothing is scandalisé that he was not wearing a between Limeys and Yanks. rationed." tie. When the President visited the Important do's and don'ts includ- 9"Don't play into Hitler's hand by Chad Griffin, 20, a communications American Military Cemetery near ed: mentioning war debts" of Britain official, blazed today in neckwear Cambridge on Saturday, United 9"Don't make fun of British speech from World War 1. that no Republican would be caught States Embassy officials handed out or accents," even when "all the a's in Perhaps the Embassy should have wearing: a Save the Children tie. reproductions of a 1942 booklet that 'banana' sound like the a in 'father.' given the President a copy. When the President's young aides was given to servicemen going to g"Stop and think before you sound Mr. Clinton broke one of the most found out that it was going to be England to prepare for the invasion off about lukewarm beer or cold important rules just before he ar- muddy at the drumhead religious of Europe. Titled "Over There," the boiled potatoes." rived here. In a section called "Keep service today, they all simply pulled booklet aimed to acquaint soldiers q"If British civilians look dowdy Out of Arguments," the United out the running shoes they always with British ways and warn the and badly dressed, it is not because States War Department advised: keep in their suitcases for jogging. troops not to give the Jerries a help- they do not like good clothes or know "You can rub a Britisher the wrong way by telling him 'We came over and won the last one. Each nation did its share.'' In a June 1 speech in Washington, Day 1954 the President gave the United States sole credit for liberating Europe, in -qural the view of the snarling British press. "Fifty years ago, the men and women of America saved democracy in Europe and changed the course of history for the world," he said. The Daily Mail of London tartly replied with an article titled 'How America Set Europe Free,' by Bill Clinton," quoting an unnamed official at the British Embassy in Washing- ton as complaining, "The least he could have done was mention the word 'Allies,' and a long-suffering Canadian diplomat as muttering, "We're getting used to it." The President was a little more diplomatic at Cambridge this week- end. "The British gave our troops the feeling that they were not so far from home after all," he said. "The British gave us inspiration; the Americans gave in return hope." THE NEW YORK TIMES, MONDAY, JUNE 6, 1994 Misplaced Salute? Wearing a U.S.S. George Washing- ton cap with "Commander in Chief" and gold-braided "scrambled eggs" on the edge, the President swore in 62 re-enlisting seamen during his visit to the nuclear powered aircraft carrier, the largest ship in the world. Always a fast learner, Mr. Clinton had much improved his salute by today, finally giving it the stiff-wrist- ed snap at the end that puts it nearly on a par with the one Ronald Reagan polished as a celluloid warrior. But even as Mr. Clinton perfected this military greeting, some of his top advisers were fretting that he should- n't be saluting at all. They pointed out that, until President Reagan made it. a practice, protocol dictated that ser- vicemen salute Presidents but that Presidents not salute back. Dwight D. Eisenhower, they said, never saluted back, and he should have known. Like Ronald Reagan, however, Bill Clinton enjoyed giving a little salute to crowds during the campaign. An aide speculated that he might feel, if he stopped now, that it would seem as though he was guilty about not having served in the military. It may not be so easy to get him to stop. With the sailors, the President was clearly relishing his new pa- nache, having so much fun with that greeting that he followed it up with a second: a firm handshake. 3