and so, the night before the invasion, when colonel wolverton asked his parachute troops to kneel with him in prayer, he told them, do not bow your heads, but so you can see god and ask his blessing in what we are about to do. also that night, general matthew ridgway on his cot, listening in the darkness for the promise god made to joshua, i will not fail three, nor for sake thee. these are the things that impelled. these are the things that shaped the unity of the allies. when the war wars over, there were lives to be rebuilt and governments to be returned to the people. there were nations to be reborn. above all, there was a new peace to be assured. these were huge and daunting tasks. but the allies summoned the strength from the faith, belief, loyalty, and love over those who fell here. the rebuilt and new europe together. there was first a great reconciliation among those who had been enemies, all of whom had suffered so greatly. the united states did its part, creating the marshall plan to help rebuild our allies and our former enemies. the marshall plan led to the atlantic allian