How It's Used

"I declined his invitation to be in the delivery room and went to telephone Bill. It was surely near H-hour and the Metro closed at about this time. Then I stood in the hall, not far from the delivery room door, and listened to the groans and cries that were Kay's, the unexcited French voices belonging to Bazin, a nurse and an anesthetist, Bazin's counsel and instructions in English, the vague sound of instruments and the rest. Then I heard, and it caused a chill to go through me, the sudden, unmistakable wail of a newborn infant."

—James Salter, "Almost Pure Joy: From the delivery room, I heard the doctor call, 'Pull the cork!'," The Washington Post, August 13, 1995, p. W18.

"While the world awaits another United Nations deadline for Iraq to disarm, the marines of Task Force Tarawa are waiting for word from their commander in chief to get rolling. On Wednesday another set of officers gathered around a flag-size map, duct taped to plywood and planned, to the minute, the first few days after an H-hour that has not come."

—Michael Wilson, "Death and Other Vital Topics as Marines Prepare," The New York Times, March 14, 2003, p. A1.

"During those weeks in the woods, the soldiers were told nothing. They did not know whether this was merely an exercise—and there had been many. They were not told about a Western Front or an invasion. They never heard the name of the mission, Operation Overlord, or the technical term, D-Day, that was to become so famous (the D simply stands for 'day,' a convention used because military operations are planned to begin on D-Day and H-Hour, whose specifics are subject to constant change)."

—Doug Saunders, "Back with a vengeance: It had been four long years since the Nazis had overrun Europe and driven their fleeing foes into the sea at Dunkirk. Despite the Blitz and constant threat of invasion, the Allies had regrouped and gathered strength, waiting for the day they would be strong enough to go back. The key: make sure Hitler didn't know what was coming. Sixty years later, Doug Saunders visits Britain's south coast, launch pad for the greatest sneak attack in history," The Globe and Mail, May 29, 2004, p. F4.

"The effusive colonel, a born raconteur, often draws parallels between the Marine Corps and the corps de ballet. On his battered, black steel desk sits a small bronze statue of the flag raising on Iwo Jima. Bossov Ballet Theatre, he notes, was incorporated on Feb. 23, 1996—51 years to the day after Mt. Suribachi was captured.

"The most important thing in ballet and war, Wyly says, is training the troops. He explains performing this way: 'D-day is opening night. And the curtains open at H-hour. Once that curtain opens, you don't have any control over the situation anymore. Just like when your troops cross the line of departure. Now the battle is joined...What's going to happen is what's going to happen. God help us! We hope we taught them right.'"

—Stacey Chase, "Backstory: A marine's corps de ballet: A unique pas de deux: A Soviet ballet star and a medaled ex-marine run a very intense dance school in rural Maine," The Christian Science Monitor, March 8, 2007.

"More than 800 Normandy veterans travelled from Britain for this special day of remembrance and celebration. With an average age of 85, for many of them it will inevitably be a last visit. But it was their day, and they claimed it.

"The political debacle over the Queen's non-attendance may have threatened to corrode their moment of pride, but those who had been disgorged on the beaches at H-Hour were watched by a prince, shoe-horned into yesterday's proceedings at the eleventh hour. And those gathered in Bayeux cathedral for the Royal British Legion's service of commemoration were joined by a beleaguered prime minister in Gordon Brown and a replacement defence secretary in Bob Ainsworth.

"'She would have loved to be here; it's those wretched people who stopped her coming,' said Peter Lennard, 92, from Maidstone, who landed on Sword beach with the anti-tank regiment of 30 Corps. 'Everyone feels the same.'"

—Caroline Davies, "D-Day: Britain's veterans return in pride: This was the final opportunity for many to honour fallen comrades and stir the memories," The Observer (UK), June 7, 2009.

Links

Related on eAlmanac
D-Day
Zero Hour

Beyond eAlmanac
Wikipedia article on Military Designations of Days and Hours