news-record.com

February 28, 1945 -- The White House announced today that President Roosevelt will make a decision soon whether to order an invasion of Nazi-held western Europe across the English Channel.

The president concluded his 10th meeting with top military leaders, including Chief of Staff George Marshall and Supreme Allied Commander Omar Bradley, who replaced Dwight Eisenhower last month.

Eisenhower's plane went down in a North Atlantic storm as he was flying to Washington for his ninth meeting with Roosevelt to discuss strategy.

Roosevelt has insisted on making a deliberate decision as he's weighed future action aimed at dislodging the Germans from occupied France, Belgium and Holland. Eisenhower had strongly urged a massive invasion across the Channel as early as last June, but Roosevelt delayed giving the order until he could evaluate alternatives.

Critics have said the enemy has used the additional time to both strengthen their Atlantic defenses and push back Allied progress in Italy. Meanwhile, the Soviets, disillusioned by inaction on the Western front, have halted their advances from the east and seem prepared to conclude a separate truce with the Hitler regime.

Roosevelt said his focus is not only on concluding the war, but devising an "exit strategy" for American troops and leaving liberated European countries in the hands of reliable political partners.

"After completing a rigorous final meeting, President Roosevelt has the information he wants and needs to make his decision and he will announce that decision within days," a White House spokesman said.