Sublime

LYNDON JOHNSON had seen combat, had been in combat, under fire, if only as an observer. The next day, he headed home, at five-thirty a.m., boarding the B-17 that would carry the two Generals and other highranking officers as well as himself and his surviving fellow observer, Sam Anderson, back to Australia—first to Darwin, and then on the long flig

The first feature of an O&I that allowed for these effects was the breadth and depth of the teams that it was able to assemble, and prompt dialogue between. In order to assemble these teams and facilitate discussion, an O&I depended on someone who could “own” the operation of the forum. The voice that the Task Force’s teams heard open every

condescension.

Believing that Conner was “exceptionally well qualified” to carry out the critical planning functions required of the Operations Section, Palmer resolved to “pry him loose” from the Inspector General. Palmer took his request to Chief of Staff Harbord, who warned Palmer of a potential problem with Conner’s transfer to the Operations Section: Conner

The centerpiece of the room was an enormous oil painting of General George S. Patton and his bull terrier, Willie, short for William the Conqueror.

There were now four Allied armies in France: the First and Third U.S. armies (Hodges and Patton) under Bradley’s operational control; and the Second British (Dempsey) and First Canadian (Crerar) reporting to Twenty-first Army Group. But Montgomery, not Ike, retained overall command of the ground war.

was a dead British orator and writer who was on my mind. Edmund Burke said the problem with war is that it usually consumes the very things that you’re fighting for—justice, decency, humanity—and I couldn’t help but think of how many times I had violated our nation’s deepest values in order to protect them.