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The 4th Division Pushes Inland

While combat engineers prepared the beaches for the follow-up of additional men and materiel, the 1st and 2d Battalions of the 8th Infantry proceeded on their altered mission. When General Roosevelt and the battalion commanders became aware of the error in the landings, it was decided to reduce the enemy strong points immediately confronting them and proceed inland to their original objective. Directly in front of the 1st Battalion was the fortification in and around Madeleine, and facing the 2d Battalion approximately 1,300 yards to the southeast, was another fortification, just south of the Exit 2 road. These were field fortifications placed to cover the causeway roads; they were not formidable. They were all taken by forces of company size or less against light opposition. Other troops cleaned out houses along the road running parallel with the beach. The enemy coastal garrisons, apparently demoralized by the preparatory bombardment, showed little fight; some did not fire at all.

Two or three hours were consumed in eliminating opposition in the beach area and in reorganizing for the advance inland. The two battalions then diverged, the 1st moving north and then inland through Exit 3, and the 2d moving down the coast to Exit 1. By this time additional waves of infantrymen had landed. At approximately 0745 (H plus 75 minutes) the 3d Battalion, 22d Infantry (initially attached to the 8th Infantry), touched down on Green Beach and moved north along the coast to reduce beach strong points. The 3d Battalion of the 8th Infantry landed in the same waves on Red Beach and moved inland across Exit 2. Four battalions of infantry had thus landed by 0800. Two more came in at about 1000-the 1st Battalion, 22d Infantry, on the northern beach and the 2d Battalion, 22d Infantry, on the southern. According to plan these two battalions were to march inland through Exit 4. Since the eastern end of this exit was still covered by enemy fire and the causeways to the south were already congested, some of the 22d Infantry's units were compelled to wade two miles through the inundations. Elements of the 12th Infantry, which landed shortly after noon, also waded through the flooded area. The water was generally only waist-deep, but the area was full of ditches and holes, and men frequently dropped into water over their heads. Since the 22d Infantry's objective lay to the northwest in the direction of St. Germain-de-Varreville, it had to cross the Exit 3 road and wade through the swamps. In doing so it found itself crossing rear elements of the 8th Infantry moving west on the road.

This was only part of the traffic congestion resulting from the errors in landing. The original traffic plan envisaged the use of Exit 2 and Exit 3 for vehicles. Exit 3 could not be used because of the nearness of enemy positions to the north. Consequently all vehicles tried to use Exit 2. The 3d Battalion, 8th Infantry, supported by tanks of the 70th Tank Battalion and engineers of the 237th Engineer Combat Battalion, had begun to move down the causeway to Exit 2. Halfway down the causeway it found that the culvert over a small stream had been blown, and the road was covered by an antitank gun off to the right. The first tank was stopped by a mine. Another was knocked of the road by an anti- tank gun. It was not until a third tank silenced the enemy gun that the column proceeded to ford the stream. The blown culvert never really obstructed traffic; Major Tabb of the Beach Obstacle Task Force immediately brought up a platoon of engineers and built a small treadway bridge.

The Sea Wall At the Eastern American Beach (Utah Beach)

Meanwhile a great many vehicles accumulated in the areas behind the beach. Enemy shelling of the beach intensified during the morning but fortunately did not hit the parking fields. Beginning about noon Exit 2 became jammed with trucks. Engineer work parties had unloaded bridging equipment on the causeway, an antiaircraft half-track had taken up a position on the road, and a signal truck was slowly laying wire. Exit 2 was narrow and practically without shoulders. At noon, General Barton, concerned over an enemy tank threat, ordered that the road be cleared for antitank guns, even if other vehicles had to be pushed into the swamp. Late in the day there was still considerable congestion east of the bridge because trucks were maneuvering to reclaim partly mired vehicles.

After the capture of the coastal positions the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry, moved north and then west on the causeway to Exit 3. Despite enemy artillery fire, it crossed the inundated area and reached the vicinity of Turqueville by evening.

The aircraft engine nacelle and propeller are top right. Dark patches are cloud shadows. German flooding of the low pasturelands immediately west of the beach was planned to limit American accessibility to the higher ground. Further west along the top of the photo can be seen the flooded Merderet River valley, also a defensive tactic that caused grievous losses to the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. On the beach, landing craft are bringing in General Barton's 4th Infantry Division. Two causeways carry vehicles and men westbound to relieve the paratroopers holding the causeways western exits. Over the following months ships off loaded supplies and men across the beach in volumes comparable to the port of Philadelphia.

The 3d Battalion moved west beyond Exit 2, meeting little opposition until just north of Ste. Marie-du-Mont. There, at Germain, it encountered enemy dugouts, underground shelters, three or four 88-mm. guns, and smaller weapons. After a short fire fight, the battalion closed in. Fifty Germans were cut down as they broke and ran; a hundred were taken prisoner. At night the battalion bivouacked north of les Forges, confronting the high ground south of Ste. Mere-Eglise. Company K took up a position far to the left and sent one platoon to Chef-du-Pont to establish contact with the 82d Airborne Division. The 2d Battalion moved straight south toward Pouppeville. Colonel MacNeely (commanding the 2d Battalion, 8th Infantry), scheduled to land at H plus 30 minutes, had decided to go in earlier. When he landed, Company F was already moving in to reduce the fortification confronting it. Company E had found a path through the mine field behind the dunes and followed it under artillery fire without losing a man. Colonel MacNeely shortly had his battalion in hand and, while Company F was still engaged, he moved Company E around behind Company F and led it down the road along the eastern edge of the inundations. Company G moved south also, hugging the sea wall. The battalion encountered continuous small-arms fire all the way down the coast. Company G received artillery fire as it approached the strong point at Beau Guillot, and ran into a mine field, but decided to move through. The battalion was assembled at the road junction northeast of Pouppeville and then advanced on the village, where first contact was made with the 3d Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry.

The battalion thus bypassed some enemy positions at the southern tip of the inundated area, including the lock north of Grand Vey which in part controlled the inundations. The lock, which was originally the mission of Company G, 8th Infantry, was secured later by Company A, 49th Engineer Combat Battalion. In the course of reducing the surrounding enemy defenses, the engineers took 12S prisoners. The 2d Battalion, 8th Infantry, relieved the 3d Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry, at Pouppeville. From there it pushed on west and at night it bivouacked just south of the main road intersection at les Forges.

DD-Tanks made it ashore at Utah Beach

The 8th Infantry had reached its D-Day objectives. It had relieved elements of the 101st Airborne Division in the Pouppeville area and was in a position to protect the southwest flank of the 4th Division. Only north of les Forges did it encounter . difficulties. A finger of strong enemy resistance extended through Fauville to Turqueville. Entrenched along a ridge, the enemy cut the les Forges-Ste. Mere-Eglise highway, and prevented contact between the 8th Infantry and the main body of the 82d Airborne Division at Ste. Mere-Eglise. Attacked earlier in the day by the 505th Parachute Infantry troops from Ste. Mere-Eglise, the Germans had apparently given some ground to the north but had consolidated again at Fauville.

Late in the afternoon the advance elements of the seaborne "Howell Force," which was attached to the 82d Airborne Division and commanded by Col. E. D. Raff, followed the 3d Battalion, 8th Infantry, across Exit 2. They were to join the 82d Airborne Division at Ste. Mere-Eglise. When the 3d Battalion, 8th Infantry, came up against the enemy positions on the high ground to the north, it requested artillery but did not intend to advance farther that evening. Colonel Raff, on the other hand, considered it necessary to attempt forcing his way through in order to accomplish his mission. He was also concerned over clearing the area to permit the landing of gliderborne artillery units of the division scheduled to come in at 2100.

An 88-millimetre gun points seaward from a casemate at Les-Dunes-de-Varraville, Utah Beach

Twice tanks and infantry struck at the German defenses and were turned back. One tank was disabled in the first attempt; two were destroyed in the second. The enemy had not been budged at 2100 when, on schedule, sixty C-47's appeared over the area with gliders in tow. Despite heavy enemy fire most of the gliders were cast loose over the German positions. Some came down in enemy lines; some drifted farther south; most crash landed with high casualties. Colonel Raff was able to gather only miscellaneous personnel to help set up a defensive line against enemy counterattack. And there in the vicinity of les Forges his force spent the night.

The other two regiments of the 4th Division did not reach their D-Day objectives. After wading through the inundated area, the 12th Infantry came up on the left of the 502d Parachute Infantry south of Beuzeville- au-Plain, and remained there for the night. The 1st and 2d Battalions, 22d Infantry, which also had to wade inland through the swamps and spend about seven hours in the marsh, reached dry land in the vicinity of St. Martin-de-Varreville and moved on to St. Germain-de-Varreville, where they bivouacked for the night. The 3d Battalion, 22d Infantry, as already noted, was assigned the task of reducing enemy beach strong points. The battalion moved north past les Dunes de Varreville and the Exit 4 road and reached the southern edge of Hamel de Cruttes by nightfall.

The Landing in Retrospect

The relative ease with which the assault on Utah Beach was accomplished was surprising even to the attackers, and gave the lie to the touted impregnability of the Atlantic Wall. The 4th Division's losses for D Day were astonishingly low. The 8th and 22d Infantry Regiments, which landed before noon, suffered a total of 118 casualties on D Day, 12 of them fatalities. The division as a whole suffered only 197 casualties during the day, and these included 60 men missing through the loss (at sea) of part of Battery B, 29th Field Artillery Battalion. Not less noteworthy than the small losses was the speed of the landings. With the exception of one field artillery battalion (the 20th) the entire 4th Division had landed in the first fifteen hours. In addition there came ashore one battalion of the 359th Infantry, the 65th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, the 87th Chemical Mortar Battalion, the 899th Tank Destroyer Battalion (less two companies), the 70th and 746th Tank Battalions, components of the 1st Engineer Special Brigade which had begun organizing the beach for the build-up, seaborne elements of the airborne divisions, and many smaller units. A total of over 20,000 troops and 1,700 vehicles reached Utah Beach by the end of 6 June.

A headquarters area at Uncle Red sector. More and more men, equipment, and supplies are landing from ships and craft such as those shown at low tide in the background.

Corps headquarters had, up to the night of D Day, participated but very little in the initial beachhead operation. Consequently, all activity centered around the divisions and, more particularly, their subordinate units.

VII Corps Headquarters was actually divided on D Day. An advance detachment of the headquarters, under Maj. Gen. Eugene M. Landrum, had crossed Exit 2 late in the afternoon, paused in an orchard in the vicinity of la Houssaye at the west end of the causeway, and proceeded to Audouville-la-Hubert at 1900 to establish a command post only a few hundred yards from that of the 4th Division. But by nightfall higher headquarters still had little contact with most of the units on the Utah beachhead, and direction of the battle remained almost completely decentralized.

The Corps commander, General Collins, was at the close of D Day still aboard the Bayfield with the major portion of his staff. For a number of reasons the Corps commander had decided to maintain his headquarters aboard ship. The Bayfield had been especially fitted with radio communication in order that contact could be kept with V Corps on the left and with General Bradley, whose command ship was nearer the Omaha than the Utah Beach operation. The Bayfield was also prepared to receive radio communications directly from the two airborne divisions and from the 4th Division. Furthermore, General Collins wanted to be near Admiral Moon's headquarters to insure that landing operations would continue uninterrupted in spite of adverse weather. This decision was fortunate, for Admiral Moon became greatly concerned over the loss of some vessels in the Task Force. Late in the day he considered a recommendation of his staff to suspend landing operations during the night, but General Collins convinced him of the necessity of continuing landing operations as uninterruptedly as possible. This was agreed to.

Among the commanders who were on the ground and whose units were in contact with the enemy there were uncertainty and anxiety on the night of D Day. Most disturbing was the lack of information about other units. This uncertainty had already affected the decisions of many commanders on D Day, and was most keenly felt by the airborne units, particularly the 82d Airborne Division, which had little or no knowledge of the course of the battle on other parts of the beachhead.

The anxiety experienced by some ground commanders on the night of D Day was not as keenly felt at higher headquarters, where a somewhat broader picture of the operation was obtainable. Some assuring reports had reached the Bayfield on the course of the operation. General Collins had heard as early as 0700 or 0800 that the 101st had taken St. Martin-de- Varreville, and by noon he had learned that definite contact had been established between the 4th Division and the 101st and that the beach exits were in their possession. These reports were particularly reassuring, for the greatest causes for concern had been the six 150-mm. guns reported at St. Martin-de-Varreville and the fear that the western ends of the causeways would be mined and held in strength. It was a great relief to learn that the inundated area had been crossed and that the exits were in American hands.

In general, on the Bayfield there was reason to believe that things were going well ashore, except for the lack of information about the 82d Airborne Division. General Collins' headquarters called the division repeatedly on D Day, but could not raise a single response. Early in the evening a report was received at 4th Division headquarters at Audouville-la-Hubert to the effect that elements of the division were being attacked from the northeast and south; but this message was not clearly identified as to its origin. Two-way communication with the 82d Airborne Division was not established on D Day. The first report did not come in until late during the night. However, with favorable reports from both the 4th and 101st Divisions, General Collins saw no need for any changes in the Corps plans. He was confident that the veteran 82d possessed the leadership and fighting ability to take care of itself until contact was made with other units ashore.

On this Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on November 25:
1562 Lope Felix de Vega Madrid Spain, dramatist/poet (Angelica, Arcadia)
1835 Andrew Carnegie steel industrialist/library builder
1846 Carry Nation scourge of barkeepers & drinkers
1856 Sergei Taneyev Russia, composer (Oresteia)
1877 Harley Granville-Barker London, dramatist/producer/critic
1881 John XXIII [Angelo Roncalli], Bergamo Italy, 261st pope (1958-63)
1893 Robert Ripley illustrator (Believe it or Not)
1895 Anastas I Mikoyan Armenia, member of Supreme Soviet
1895 Wilhelm Kempff Juterbog Germany, pianist (Unterdem Zimbelstern)
1896 Virgil Thomson Kansas City MO, composer/music critic (4 Saints in 3 Acts)
1900 Helen Gahagan Douglas Nixon's 1st opponent
1901 Tibor Serly Losonc Hungary, violinist/composer (American Elegy)
1902 Eddie Shore Boston Bruins (#2), hall of famer
1914 Joe DiMaggio Yankee Clipper (56 game hitting streak)
1919 Steve Brodie Eldorado KS, actor (Life & Legend of Wyatt Earp)
1920 Ricardo Montalban actor (Fantasy Island, Star Trek II, Naked Gun)
1925 Jeffrey Hunter Orleans La, actor (Christopher Pike-Star Trek Cage)
1926 Murray Schisgal playwright (Luv)
1929 Jack Hogan Chapel Hill NC, actor (Combat, Adam 12, Sierra)
1933 Kathryn Grant Crosby Houston Texas, actress (Mr Cory, Big Circus)
1933 Lenny Moore NFL back (Baltimore Colts)
1933 Rene Enriquez San Francisco CA, actor (Ray Calletano-Hill Street Blues)
1935 Gloria Steinem Toledo Ohio, femnist/writer (Ms)
1938 Charles Starkwether serial murderer, with his 14-year-old girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate, in 1958 they embarked on a shocking, murderous rampage that lasted eight days and left 11 dead bodies in its wake--including Caril Ann's family.
1939 Martin Feldstein economist (1977 John Bates Clark Medal)
1940 Richard Furrer Worgl Germany, astronaut (STS 22)
1942 Tracey Walter Jersey City NJ, actor (Best of the West)
1947 John Larroquette New Orleans LA, actor (Dan Fielding-Night Court)
1947 Jonathan Kaplan Paris France, director (Heart Like a Wheel)
1952 Ernest Harden Jr Detroit MI, actor (Marcus-Jeffersons)
1956 Liana Vicens Puerto Rico, 100m breaststroke (Olympics 1968)
1959 Steve Rothery rocker (Marillion-Real to Reel)
1960 Amy Grant gospel singer (Glory of Love, Baby Baby)
1960 John F Kennedy Jr lawyer, son of JFK
1961 Amy Gibson actress (General Hospital)
1966 Stacy Lattislaw disco singer (Million Dollar Baby)
1967 Curtis Baldwin Los Angeles CA, actor (Calvin-227)
1971 Christine Applegate Hollywood, actress (Kelly-Married With Children)

Deaths which occurred on November 25:
1240 Edmund Van Abingdon, archbishop of Canterbury/Saint, dies
1504 Isabella I, Catholic Queen of Castille & Aragon (1474-1504)
1885 Thomas A Hendricks 21st VP, dies at 66, 8 months after taking office
1943 Edward H "Butch" O'Hare, US pilot/lt-comdr (Chicago Airport named for him), dies in battle
1944 Kenesaw Landis baseball commisioner, dies
1949 Luther "Bill" Robinson famed tap dancer, dies at 71
1958 Charles F Kettering invented auto self-starter, dies at 82
1964 Clarence Kolb actor (Mr Honeywell-My Little Margie), dies at 90
1968 Phil Lord actor (Stud's Place), dies at 89
1973 Albert DiSalvo, Boston strangler, stabbed in prison
1974 U Thant UN Secretary-General (1961-72), dies in NY of cancer at 65
1977 Richard Carlson actor (Col MacKenzie-MacKenzie's Raiders), dies at 65
1981 Jack Albertson actor (Chico & the Man), dies at 74
1982 Robert Coote actor, dies in NYC of a heart attack at 73
1986 Scatman Crothers, singer/actor (Shining, Chico & The Man), dies at 76
1987 Harold Washington 1st black mayor of Chicago (D, 1983-87), dies at 65
1990 Bill Vukovich Indie 500 driver, dies in crash at 27
1991 Bill Graham rock promoter, dies

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1966 GARDNER GLENN V.---SAN BERNARDINO CA.
[JUMPED OVERBOARD]
1966 NIEHOUSE DANIEL
L.
[04/12/67 ON PRG DIC LIST]
1967 ABRAMS LEWIS HERBERT---MONTCLAIR NJ.
[RADIO CONTACT LOST REMAINS RETURNED 06/26/97]
1967 HOLDEMAN ROBERT EUGENE---WINCHESTER IN.
[REMAINS RETURNED 06/26/97]
1967 MIDGETT DEWEY A.---CHESAPEAKE VA.
["ON PASS, ON WAY TO BEACH (AWOL)"]
1967 SEARFUS WILLIAM HENRY---LOS ANGELES CA.
1968 FRANCISCO SAN D.---BURBANK WA.
[VOICE CONTACT ON GROUND]
1968 MORRISON JOSEPH C.---LEXINGTON KY.
[VOICE CONTACT ON GROUND 11/92 - I.D'D IN PICTURES]
1968 STAMM ERNEST ALBERT---MEDFORD OR.
[03/13/74 REMAINS RETURNED]
1968 THUM RICHARD COBB---CLEVELAND HEIGHTS OH.
[09/30/77 REMAINS RETURNED BY SRV]
1971 THOMAS JAMES R.---FORT WALTON BEACH FL.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

On this day...
1357 Charles IV issues letter of protection of Jews of Strasbourg Alsace
1580 French Huguenots & Catholics sign peace treaty
1715 1st English patent granted to an American, for processing corn
1758 Britain captures Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh)
1766 Pope Clement XIII warns On the dangers of anti-Christian writings
1783 Britain evacuates NY, their last military position in US
1805 The opera "Tha‹s" 1st American performance
1817 1st sword swallower in US performs (NYC)
1834 Delmonico's, one of NY's finest restaurants, provides a meal of soup, steak, coffee & half a pie for 12 cents
1841 35 Amistad survivors return to Africa
1863 Union ends the siege of Chattanooga with the Battle of Missionary Ridge.
1864 Confederate plot to burn NYC, fails
1867 Alfred Nobel invents dynamite
1884 John B Meyenberg of St Louis patents evaporated milk
1894 Greenback (Independent) Party organizes in Indianapolis
1897 Spain grants Puerto Rico autonomy
1908 Dorando Pietri (It) beats Johnny Hayes (US) in MSG marathon by 60 yards
1912 American College of Surgeons incorporates in Springfield, IL
1913 Woodrow Wilson's daughter Jessie marries in the White House
1914 German Field Marshal Fredrich von Hindenburg calls off the Lodz offensive 40 miles from Warsaw, Poland. The Russians lose 90,000 to the Germans' 35,000 in two weeks of fighting.(Now THIS is a quagmire!)
1920 WTAW of College Station, TX, broadcast 1st football play-by-play
1930 690 earthquake shocks recorded in 1 day (Ito Japan)
1933 1st Soviet liquid rocket attains altitude of 261' (80m)
1934 German theologian Karl Barth surrenders to Nazis
1940 Patria steamer sinks killing 200, outside of Haifa
1940 U of Michigan retires Tom Harmon's #98
1947 New Zealand accedes to Statute of Westminster, becomes a dominion
1948 Fort Funston's 16-inch coastal guns removed
1948 KING-TV, Seattle, goes on the air with 1st Pacific NW telecast
1950 China enters Korean conflict, sends troops across Yalu River launching a counter-offensive against soldiers from the United Nations, the United States and South Korea.
1951 17 die in a train crash in Woodstock AL
1951 Cleveland Browns penalized a record 209 yards against Chicago Bears
1952 Only win ever for NFL's Dallas Texans (11-1) beats Bears 27-23
1957 President Eisenhower suffers a mild stroke, impairing his speech
1958 Senegal becomes an autonomous state in the French Community
1960 1st atomic reactor for research & development, Richland Wa
1961 NBA's Bob Cousy becomes 2nd player to score 15,000 points
1963 JFK laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery,
1966 Pirate Radio Station 390 (Radio Invicta) closes down (reopen 12/31)
1967 Cloudburst over Lisbon kills 450
1967 Puerto Rico placed on Atlantic Standard Time
1969 John Lennon returns his MBE
1973 Bloodless military coup ousts Greek President George Papadopoulos
1975 Federal jury finds ex-Manson groupie, Lynette ("Squeaky") Fromme, guilty of attempted assassination of President Ford
1975 Netherlands grants Surinam independence (National Day)
1976 OJ Simpson gains 273 yards for Buffalo vs Detroit
1976 Viking 1 radio signal from Mars help prove general theory of relativity
1977 David Steed balanced stationary on a bike for 9 hrs 15 mins
1978 Thomas Hearns KOs Jerome Hill in 2 rounds in his 1st pro fight
1978 American Airlines DC-10 crashes on takeoff from Chicago, kills 275
1980 Sugar Ray Leonard defeats Duran regains WBC welterweight championship
1983 Soyuz T-9 returns to Earth, 149 days after take-off
1983 Syria & Saudi Arabia announce cease-fire in PLO civil war in Tripoli
1983 World's greatest robbery-œ25,000,000 of gold, Heathrow, England
1984 William Schroeder, becomes 2nd to receive Jarvik-7 artificial heart
1986 Iran-Contra affair erupts, President Reagan reveals secret arm deal
1988 Chuck Berry pays $250 fine to resolve NYC assault charges
1988 Convention on exploitation of Antarctic mineral resources signed
1988 US & Soviet chess grand masters Donaldson & Akhmilovskaya wed
1988 Widespread earthquake hits NE US, Canada; no damage reported
1990 Lech Walesa wins in Poland's 1st popular election
1990 NFL's NY Giants & San Francisco 49ers after winning their 1st 10 games both lose, Phil Eagles beat Giants 31-13 & L.A. Rams beat 49ers 28-17
2000 Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris certified George W. Bush the winner over Al Gore in the state's presidential balloting by a 537-vote margin.

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Surinam : Independence Day (1975)
Mass : John F Kennedy Day (1963) (Sunday)
Bern Switzerland : Onion Market Day-autumn festival (Monday)
US : Thanksgiving (Thursday)
US : Farm City Week (Day 5)
US : Eating Disorders Week (Day 3)
Native American Heritage Month

Religious Observances
Ang : Commemoration of James Otis Sargent Huntington
RC : St Catherine, patron of maidens/mechanics/philosophers
Luth : Commemoration of Isaac Watts, hymn writer

Religious History
2348 _BC_ According to Archbishop James Ussher's Old Testament chronology, the Great Deluge ("Noah's Flood") began on this date.
1742 In New York, David Brainerd, 24, was approved as a missionary to the New England Indians by the Scottish Society for the Propagating of Christian Knowledge (SPCK). Brainerd worked heroically from Apr 1743 to Nov 1746, before advancing tuberculosis forced him to relinquish his work. (He died in October 1747.)
1807 Anglican missionary Henry Martyn wrote in his journal: 'With thee, O my God, there is no disappointment; I shall never have to regret that I loved thee too well.'
1820 English poet and Oxford Movement leader John Keble, 28, penned the words to the hymn, "Sun of My Soul" ("Sun of my soul, Thou Savior dear, It is not night if Thou be near....").
1864 British Jewish statesman Benjamin Disraeli declared in a speech: 'Man is a being born to believe, and if no church comes forward with all the title deeds of truth, he will find altars and idols in his own heart and his own imagination.'

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Thought for the day :
"All generalizations are bad."

Question of the day....
Why is abbreviation such a long word ?

Murphys Law of the day...(Sattinger's Law)
It works better if you plug it in.

Amazing fact #397...
Naugahyde, was created in Naugatuck, Connecticut.