I'm glad they didn't.

My wife's e-mail signature goes like this: "If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it's in English, thank a soldier."

I had always thought it was a cute and appropriate tribute to our troops and their service. But, is it true? Dr. David Stafford, of the Centre for World War Two Studies, takes on this question in an article entitled, "What if D-Day had failed?"

In the era of Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers, it is hard to imagine that the U.S.-led invasion might have been turned back. The good guys won, and the victor gets to write the history. On June 5th, 1944, there were no guarantees. Stafford notes in his article that the invasion had been delayed 24 hours due to inclement weather. If it hadn't cleared up as it did, the invasion might have been postponed another two weeks, costing the Allies their greatest asset–the element of surprise.

As the invasion moved forward, American troops were killed by the hundreds. Paratroopers sent in the night before were spread all throughout the countryside, some as many as 20 miles from their intended drop zones. Though well planned and prepared for, the "fog of war" nearly doomed the invasion.

Due in large part to individual and collective heroics by Allied troops, such as those involved in the Brecourt Manor assault, the invasion was eventually successful in giving the Allies a toehold on the European continent.

But what if the invasion had been turned back? Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, had prepared a press release for such an occasion:

Our landings have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops.

My decision to attack at this time and place was based on the best information available.

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.

Stafford notes that a failed invasion would have meant a 12 month delay before another invasion would be possible.

Meanwhile, Hitler would have focused all his attention on the Russians in the East, although to no avail.

The Red Army by now was unstoppable and eventually Stalin's forces would have not just taken Berlin, as they did, but advanced further west to the Rhine, and perhaps even to the North Sea and English Channel.

The whole of Germany and western Europe would then have been behind the Iron Curtain, and communism would have been enforced on the end of bayonets.

In a repeat of 1940, Britain would have again stood alone, except for the United States and its overseas allies.

In these circumstances, the US might well have retreated across the Atlantic into isolation, and Britain forced into some disastrous compromise deal with Stalin. The whole post-war history of Britain, of Europe, and of the world, would have been radically different.

This alternate history would certainly have involved a very different balance of power during the Cold War, and a drastic limitation of freedoms enjoyed by most Western European nations. This most certainly would have had a significant impact on the course of our own nation as well. Fortunately, by the grace of God, and the courage of men such as those in Easy Company, or the boys of Pointe du Hoc, we'll never know exactly how things might have been if the D-Day invasion had failed.