D-Day: Give Us Strength

*****

Montgomery in Command of U.S., British and Canadian Invaders

SUPREME HEADQUARTERS, Allied Expeditionary Force, June 6 — (AP) — Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s headquarters announced today that Allied troops began landing on the norther coast of France this morning strongly supported by Naval and air forces.

Text of the communique:

Under the command of Gen. Eisenhower Allied Naval forces supported by strong air forces began landing Allied armies this morning on the northern coast of France.

The Germans said the landings extended between Le Have and Cherbourg along the south side of the bay of the Seine and along the northern Normandy coast.

Parachute troops descended in Normandy, Berlin said.

Berlin first announced the landings in a series of flashes that begin about 6:30 a.m. (12:30 a.m. eastern war time).

The Allied communique was read over a Trans-Atlantic hookup direct from General Eisenhower’s headquarters at 3:32 E.W.T., designated “communique No. 1.”

A second announcement by Shaef said that “it is announced that Gen. B.L. Montgomery is in command of the army group carrying out the assault. The army group includes British, Canadian, and U.S. forces.”

Image from http://www.old-picture.com

Eisenhower Tells Europe Of D-Day

NEW YORK, June 6 — (AP) — The OWI reported today this statement by Gen. Eisenhower was broadcast by allied radios in London:

“People of western Europe! A landing was made this morning on the coast of France by troops of the Allied expeditionary force. This landing is part of the concerted United Nations plan for the liberation of Europe, made in conjunction with your great Russian Allies.

“Although the initial assault may not have been made in your own country, the hour of your liberation is approaching.”

PRESIDENT TO LEAD NATIONAL PRAYER AT 9 P.M.

A community-wide prayer service will be held at the First Baptist church at 9 o’clock this evening. A radio will be installed that the assembly may join with President Roosevelt in prayer for success of the armed forces.

WASHINGTON, June 6 — (UP) — Following is President Roosevelt’s prayer for success of our arms in their task — a prayer in which he asks all to join when he utters it by radio at 9 p.m. CWT tonight:

My fellow Americans”

In this poignant hour, I ask you to join me in prayer:

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, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness to their faith.

They will need thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. The enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest — till the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men’s souls will be shaken with the violence of war.

These are men lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home — fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters and brothers of brave men overseas — whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them — help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of Great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too — strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment — Let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unhold forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies. Lead us to the saving of our country, with our sister nations  into a world unity that will spell a sure peace — a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God.

Amen!

The Abilene Reporter News – Jun 6, 1944

Signs in the Heavens

Image from http://www.earthshots.org

THE MILLENNIUM COMING.

Signs and Portents in the Heavens Which Have Caused a Frederick County Man to Prophesy.
Correspondence of THE NEWS.

The world is in a great commotion, great perplexities of the nations, and great preparations for war, and rebellion.

Besides all this, great signs and wonders have been shown in the heavens, and on the earth, but to enumerate them all would fill many pages; we will therefore only notice the most familiar ones, and then we will try to apply their meaning or significance. No less than seven comets have made their appearance in the last 5 years, and as comets are generally looked upon as the sign or token of war we will look up their history.

Now according to the best historians there have been 657 comets since the Christian Era and a war or revolution has almost universally followed the appearance of each, except the last seven which we will now notice.

Most of our readers recollect the bright comet that appeared in the summer of 1880 in the Northwest, standing only a short time, then another appeared near the same place which remained much longer. Now it is asserted on good authority that these two comets appeared directly over England and that the tail or trail of light pointed directly towards Egypt; now what did that mean? England sent her troops to Egypt, and a short but spirited fight ended the war. But soon a worse rebellion sprang up with the false prophet at the head, and where that war will end we can’t as yet tell, but according to the time that the second comet appeared the war is not yet over.

Now after these, and only about two years ago, a great comet appeared in the east, and it is asserted that it stood directly over the pyramids of Egypt a short time, then it moved west, and passed over us.

El Mahdi

Now notice two things; first where is started, and its gigantic proportions, also the movements of El Mahdi who in his fanaticism thinks that he is sent to subdue the world, and bring all under the Moslem religion. The latest statistics show that the Moslems, or Mohammedans, Buddhists and Pagans number one-half the inhabitants of the world. Now it is my opinion that El Mahdi will succeed in uniting the sons of Islam, and will gather them together to fight the great battle of Armageddon. With the combined force of the Moslem power he could easily conquer the nations of Europe, and take the ships of the nations, and come here to America. And in fact, the 38th chapter of Ezekiel warrants us in thinking so.

It is there stated the tribes that will comprise that great army, and they are of the Moslem faith and in the 8th and 16th verses we learn that it is to be in the latter days and they are to come like a storm into a land that has always been waste but that is brought forth out of the nations dwelling safely all of them in a land of inwalled villages to a people gathered out of the nations that have gotten cattle and goods and dwelling in the midst of the land. Now I would just ask what nation is there that was brought out of all nations but America? What county has been always waste, but this? What land has inwalled villages, and dwell safely in all of them?

The valley in which this great battle is to be fought in the valley of Passengers. What place answers to that but the Mississippi valley see chapter 39 11 verse. There is one consolation, that is that they will be over come and turned back. Now from a careful study of history, and the Bible, and a close observation of the signs of the times I am constrained to believe that we are living in the last days in which perilous times are to come.

In 1858 a comet appeared in the north which passed over to the south and stood a little over four months and on the 2nd day of September 1859 at 12 o’clock at night the sky became blood red south of us. The rebellion lasted a little over four years and the land was drenched with blood south of us. On the 2nd and 3rd of July 1862 a star stood over Getysburg with a long trail pointing towards Washington. In just one year on the day the great battle of Gettysburg was fought.

Now we have had similar signs shown only a couple of years ago. I beheld a curious sign at 2 o’clock in the morning. The sky was blood red and something rolled up like smoke; then vivid flashes of light in quick succession would follow then images like soldiers would march along the sky. One night a firey sheet was left down out of the sky then drawn up again, and many other signs were seen.

The 50th Psalm says our God will come and not keep silence. A fire shall devour before him and it shall be tempestious around about him. The reports of the terrible fires and distructive storms and tornadoes everywhere makes us feel as if the is nigh at hand.

I might say a great deal more but I would just ask, What does it all mean?

F.C. RENNER.

The News (Frederick, Maryland) Feb 25, 1885

Francis Calvin Renner was an inventor, businessman, farmer, New Midway Postmaster, and minister in the Church of the Brethren. He also managed the Rose Jelly Manufacturing Company of New Midway, Frederick County, Maryland, and was one of six directors of the Woodsboro and Double Pipe Creek Turnpike Company.

From the archives at the University of Maryland.

Above is the drawing from F.C. Renner’s door alarm improvement patent, 1878. I also found patents for a fertilizer improvement and one for improvement in automatic fans, dated 1876.