D-Day

I've taken a looooong Christmas break and if I don't post now, it will stretch into a winter break.

"If the water was cold I did not notice it. I could only think of the poor guy that was drowning. He jumped off the boat too soon, the water was too deep. His gear held him down. I watched as his head sunk beneath the surface of the water. I don't even know who it was. I couldn't see his face. I guess it doesn't matter I would not tell his family that he died because he jumped off the boat too soon and drowned. I would have helped him but it happened so quickly. I was numb. It seemed as if his drowning was part of the battle plan. I did not want to die before the battle even began.
"The beach could have been booby trapped. Were there enemies on the other side of that ridge that marked the end of the beach? I wasn't going to jump out of the barge until we ran aground. The idea of this battle, THE battle, D-day; scared me to death but still, I needed to be on land. We had been on our ship for weeks waiting for orders. Some of the men were sick but all of us were bored.
"The impact of the bargve hitting the sand threw us all off balance and into the front of the raft. One man almost fell out. WE piled off, running low in knee deep water. The gunfire began almost immediately. We dropped flat on the beach, sand flew inour eyes, noses, and mouths. I looked to one side of me. Sorry-faced George was shaking sand out of his ears. I wondered if I'd see him on the other side of that beach. I began to crawl forward like we had trained so many times to do. Many men were in front of me. The ships we had just come from were firing over our heads at the enemy ahead. None of us expected resistance of this measure. WE thought our bombers had come and cleared the beaches for us."

"It sounded like thunder. The sand beneath us rumbled and bounced with the sound of boat and tank fire.
"Then- what we thought inconceivable began to happen. Land mines began to explode, triggered by crawling soldiers. Their body parts flew into the air and scattered all over the beach. I was almost afraid to move. A million thoughts ran through my head. 'If I hit a land mine what will my family have left to bury?'

"I looked around me at Jim, Pops, Frankie, Frank, Harry, Long-armed Joe, Sorry-faced George...all these men that I have trained with, ate with, these- my friend. I realize that many of them will never see America again. Reality hits me hard, even in the silence between rounds of gunfire and blasts I only think, "I am going to die, I am going to die." My other thought- "God, please kill the Kraut that kills."

~Jack, March 1943


Love to all!
Lizzi