As we approached the peninsula I was standing in the open door of the aircraft and I could see the AA fire very clearly--our plane staggered trying to maintain position while, I assume, endeavoring to stay the course--regrettably we deviated just enough to miss our drop zone by enough so that we could not locate ourselves on the ground from our maps. In retrospect I’m quite certain that we got the green light to jump earlier than we should have and landed more in the western area of the peninsula that was occupied by the German 91st. Div., a unit which was on maneuvers and as a result, not earlier located by our intelligence.

After leaving the plane it was standard procedure in order to assist assembly, to observe the line of flight while dropping and at the same time try to locate other chutes that would be landing in your area. However in the darkness, with firing in seemingly all directions and the very confusing hedge row terrain of Normandy, assembly was very difficult. We gathered about 12 to 15 men (only 2 or 3 from our company) and started east down a road that we hoped would lead us to a recognizable area--going east was at least in the direction of the invasion fleet. We engaged the alerted enemy in a running battle early that morning and afternoon during which time we lost some of our group either as wounded, or a few who somehow got separated and presumed captured, and the size of our pickup unit diminished. By late afternoon perhaps around 4 or 5 there were three of us in a small depression in the corner of a hedge row firing at a barn where there were some German infantrymen. Suddenly we came under some very close fire from our immediate left and my runner was killed, a Lt. who was with me was shot through the hips and I took a bullet that went through the lapel of my jump suit and another through two "wrinkles" in the side of the suit. At that point we were taken prisoner and the two of us who survived felt lucky to be alive.

Held overnight, we were marched to Cherbourg and again remained there overnight. (So we were dropped reasonably close) The next day (June 8) we were part of a much larger group, who had been taken in the beach landing, and we were started to be moved toward the base of the peninsula. We moved slowly and by nightfall were still on the peninsula when the Germans put us into a large French chateau under guard.

My friend HJ and a young air force fighter pilot gave our officer identification to three enlisted men (officers were counted by the Germans--enlisted men had not yet been counted) and we crawled up into the chateau attic and hid in shadowed areas in hopes that the Germans would not look the chateau over that closely. We were correct and the Germans didn’t miss us as they departed moving all of the prisoners on down the road and leaving us undetected. By the next early 2 or 3 AM we crawled out of the building and started on a course west (we had small thumb nail compasses) on the theory that we would avoid the main body of enemy troops, our forces would soon take the peninsula, and the Germans would not find us as they retreated. We were free for ten days digging in gardens at night for onions or whatever edible food we could find and proved that our theory was fine, but in practice, execution was very difficult. We had several very close encounters managing to escape capture by running or at night by bluffing. On one occasion we walked right through a German night bivouac area, with enemy troops sleeping in slit trenches, without being challenged and managed to somehow get into an adjacent field where we could temporarily hide and collect our wits. At one point we contacted a French farmer who fed us milk and a ham sandwich but the meal was interrupted by a German patrol and we had to make a hasty retreat. Everywhere we turned there were enemy soldiers and eventually, while we were hiding in the underbrush of a hedge row, a German truck stopped under a tree and the crew started to cut branches to camouflage their equipment. As the driver cut the brush above our hiding place he uncovered the three of us and we were again captured.

This time we were taken by a jeep to be questioned as to how we happened to be running around the peninsula without weapons, were we part of an underground? Etc. It soon became apparent that we didn’t qualify for that category as we had jump suit uniforms and were clearly part of the original parachute invasion. We were sent to Rennes France and held with several hundred prisoners in an old French jail filled with bed bugs and several other crawling species that I don’t think we could identify. From there (now about two week plus after "D" Day) we were put into a box car in that was part of train that was to take us to Germany. However, the air corps made this very difficult as they consistently shot off the train engine and the train would then be stalled for a few days. A few rounds bounced off of the roadbed into our car but strangely, the numerous strafing never hit anyone. We were 29 days getting to Germany and were fed about five times (can’t be sure) with very meager rations. We were barely able to stand when we finally arrived. Early in the trip someone kicked out a hole in the end of car while the train was moving and about eight men got out before the train stopped.

When the escape was discovered the Wehrmacht called in a close by SS unit. An SS Sgt. got into the car and made his presence known by slamming the head of a Jewish Doctor against the wall of the car and waving his pistol around finally shooting a few rounds through the roof. This alarmed a police dog, that another SS man had brought into the box car, and the dog bit a Wermach soldier that was part of train guard-well, with this the SS picked the three ranking officers in the car and took them out into an orchard, where they had some French people under guard, and we thought they would all be shot. Instead they again stopped just short of execution; firing more shots, but returned the men to the car. However, we never did find out what had happened to the Frenchmen. After be subjected to some night bombing raids by the British while in Cologne, we finally arrived at a German camp containing POWs from many nations, French, English, Polish even a few Italians. It was about the end of July- the first part of August when we were transported to Stalag #64 in Szubin Poland. By Sept. it was getting cold and food was scarce, as the German transport system had been effectively destroyed by the air force.

We had gotten some Red Cross food packages while in the German camp but only recieved one or two after we got to Poland. Breakfast was ersatz coffee (charred grain hulls) a third of a loaf of bread provided one slice per day, lunch, a bowl of cabbage soup or sugar beet rind soup, once every so often we got a potato. We stretched the Red Cross food as far as possible and it was a life saver.

When the Russians appeared about ready to attack Berlin, the Germans got nervous and decided to march us back to Germany (about mid Feb. 1945) It was bitter cold, water would freeze in a canteen while you were walking and there was snow on the ground. A cold wind blew across the Polish plain and all in all not a good day for a walk. My friend HJ and I decided we would not go back to Germany, so at the first opportunity we dropped off the march and let the column walk away. (I must add that the guards were not too alert, as they were more than anxious to get to Germany and away from the oncoming Russians.) We hid in a barn then contacted some Poles--we couldn’t speak Polish and they couldn’t speak English but we managed. We moved into their house (years later we learned that they were also transients trying to return home and merely taking shelter in the house) until 2 or 3 days later when, I was again in the attic, and saw a column of tanks coming down the road. I couldn’t tell if they were German or Russian but in a few minutes heard the Poles singing the International - a moment later a Russian came up the stairs pounding on his chest saying "Rusk..Ruski". Our troubles weren’t quite over, as we couldn’t communicate very well so we couldn’t for example go out after dark because we couldn’t respond to a Russian challenge. If you didn’t answer in Russian it was assumed you were the enemy and "shoot first and be safe" was the understandable Russian rule. Ultimately we made our way during daylight hours to Warsaw--seeing many German prisoners enroute-then across the Vistula to a displaced persons facility. There were thousands of people, I don’t know how many, housed in an old multi-storied building with no sanitary facilities, eating some kind of gruel in a common kitchen out of barely washed buckets, using a wooden spoon covered with a layer of grease about an eighth of an inch thick. After two days or so we left and, after some fits and starts, joined up with some other Americans to make our way to Odessa on the Black Sea. An alternative was Moscow but the freight trains east bound had refugees hanging on the outside of the engine, the box cars were full of everything from German POW’s to lord knows what, and it didn’t seem like a good idea to get deeper into a foreign land, so Odessa looked like the better choice. The trip was by truck, some walking, and by train--food supplied by Russians or by trading parts of our uniform for food. (Extra field jackets, socks, etc that we retrieved from the camp on our way to Warsaw) I must add that we were treated very well by the Russians but they have a tendency to put you under guard -- Given a place to sleep and there always seemed to be a guard --friendly, but a guard.

Finally in Odessa, we were housed in a former Consulate building, under guard. HJ and I crawled over the confining wall and went down to the water front just as 7 US liberty ships were starting to unload cargo. They were the first that the Turks allowed to pass through the Dardanelles and we felt almost at home as we encountered our first free Americans. A British ship arrived returning several thousand Russians that had joined the German army and had been captured by the allies on the western front--the Russians were marched away in a guarded column, presumably to Siberia. The Russians did not treat German prisoners very well--beatings, little food or medical attention and a sure few to a short life. We (now about 50 men, shot down fliers, POW’s from various locations) boarded the British transport and astonished the Brits by complimenting them on their excellent food-maybe the first time that Americans had done so. The ship dropped us off in Port Said, Egypt, where a strangely present US0 unit sang for us the current popular US song "Don’t Fence Me In" to a very un-responsive audience.

In fairness I don’t think they knew our background. Then we boarded a US freighter bound for Naples, and then one week later I caught an Air Force plane to Marseilles and a replacement depot. After two days, I just left and caught a plane to Paris, where I encountered several 82nd. people on leave, and learned the unit’s specific location in Germany. I then caught a truck ride to rejoin "B" company in a small town in Germany just in time to participate in a rubber boat crossing of the Elbe river. We were cleaning out a house when I was wounded (about 2-3 days before the war ended in Europe) and was sent to a MASH hospital for a few days, then evacuated by plane to a General hospital in France. A trip home made in the lower hold of a liberty ship was next and a very boisterous welcome in New York harbor—fire boats, bands, Red Cross women with doughnuts and plenty of tears by grown men. Most of us had been overseas for two and a half to 3 years.