What does the "D" in "D-Day" stand for?

Question

It must be universal because there's been more than 1 D-Day.
There's the landing at Normandy but there's also the landing at Iwo Jima. So the "D" must represent a universal term.

Answer 1

Dooms Day

Answer 2

That's the most ridiculous notion ever. If it comes to the point where the US government turns on it's citizen (never gonna happen), you got bigger problems than whether you got a handgun in the closet!!! In the meantime, you have small children accidentally shooting their parents, drive by shootings etc. Also, most of the people that spout this garbage are the kind that actually believe the end is nigh, polishing their guns over and over waiting for it. These are the last people who should have guns! Read anything about the Unibomber or the Oklahoma City bombers or the Michigan Militia etc and you'll see this quote is a favorite of all those groups hung in all their doorways!

Answer 3

The term "D Day" indicates the beginning of an attack or other military operation when the specific date has yet to be selected or secrecy is required. "H Hour" is similarly used to designate the time of the attack.

The "D" and "H" are derived from the first letters of "day" and "hour." There is one D Day and H Hour for all units participating in an operation. Plus and minus signs are used to indicate the number of days or hours that precede or follow the specific operation. Thus, 舑5 means five days before D Day and H + 2 means two hours after H Hour.

Planning for operations can begin months before the anticipated time of the operation. The use of D Day minus "X number of days" signifies the date by which certain actions, such as planning or the training of units, must be complete. At the appropriate time an order is published giving a specific date for D Day.

The U.S. Army first used the term on 7 September 1918, when it issued First Army Field Order Number 9: "The First Army will attack at H Hour on D Day with the object of forcing the evacuation of the St. Mihiel Salient." The term is most commonly associated with the invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944.-

Answer 4

The term D-Day was military parlance for the day on which a combined attack was to take place when the date had not yet been determined or when secrecy was essential. June 6th became immortalised as D-day and successive operations could not be given that term. The invasion of Okinawa began on L-Day and the proposed invasion of Japan would have begun on X-Day had the Japanese not previously surrendered.

Answer 5

...Dooms for the "D" in D-Day. Also I agree with the young lady-
Band of Brothers is an excellent series about World War II. It illustrates the struggles and efforts of "Easy Company" (meaning E company) in France from Carentan right up to crossing the Rhine river into Germany. Rents cheap now at the video store.

Answer 6

If "D-Day" is a generic term, why has it come to mean Operation Overlord's (Normandy) D-Day?
The reason for this is because it was the largest and is the most famous American "D-Day" to date. It has become the de-facto "D-Day" even though it is a generic term and every operation has a "D-Day".

Do we still use D-Day in current operations?
Yes, we do. We still use the terms D-Day and H-Hour to designate the time of a certain event and start of operations.

Answer 7

Apparently nothing:

"The terms D-Day and H-Hour are used for the day and hour on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. They designate the day and hour of the operation when the day and hour have not yet been determined, or where secrecy is essential. There is but one D-Day and one H-Hour for all units participating in a given operation."

Answer 8

It's a spoken emphais. "day" can be written with a capital "d" as "Day" and reading it we know "Day" is more important than just "day". Saying the D aloud is a way of communicating this same emphasis in speech.

This is *the* day, the captial D *DAY*, that our plans are being put into action.

Does that make sense?

Answer 9

Believe it or not, it just stands for Day. It's used to designate the day something is supposed to happen. Likewise, H stands for Hour, and M stands for Minute.

Answer 10

Dooms Day