Reporting the D-Day Landing-- Part 7: "Damn Glad To Get On The Beach"

"Wounded men , drenched by cold water, lay in gravel, some with water washing over their legs, shivering and waiting for stretcher bearers to take them aboard returning small craft.

" 'Oh, God, let me aboard a boat,' whimpered one youth in semi-delirium.  Near him a shivering youth dug with bare fingers into gravel.

"Shells burst on all sides of us, some so close they threw black water and dirt all over us in showers.  They smacked into the water around the boats, but in all the shelling I saw only one boat hit and she pulled out under her own power.

"An A.E.F. sergeant, William McFadden, Olean, New York, said, "I was damn glad to get onto the beach, and I'll be glad to get off."

--GreGen