Death from above

It was June 5 we were at Ramsbury Airfield I was 18 I was born in Whitehall Montana I grew up hunting fishing and staying out in the woods and all I wanted to do from a young age I wanted to join the army like I said we were at Ramsbury airfield I was smoking a cigarette and packing bullets for my M1 Garand the Sargent came around tell us to write out our will and life insurance I got up and to go sign my life insurance I saw Richard he was packing his grenades he looked at me and said

you got a lighter

I said

ya

he replied

mines dead

I looked at him and said

you know you can buy a lighter at the commissary for 25 cents

he said

I’ll remember that

I continued on walking seeing men praying packing gear and joking in the last row of dog company which was the company I was in I saw Charles he had just got a package I walked up to him he saw me and said

what do you think I got Robert

I replied

not a clue in hell

he took out his knife and cut the twine and open it and inside was a 357 magnum and a box of shells from his father I went and signed my life insurance I went and ate supper and after I got done the Sargent came around yelling

dog company load up

me Richard and Charles got into the same plane I was number 6 man in the plane Charles was the number 8 man and Richard was the number 7 man I sat cross from a window facing the right wing of the plane once everyone was in I watched the engines roar to life and we started to take off once we got up in the air I dozed off and when I woke the plane was jostling around the door man yelled

up up

we jumped up and hooked up to the wire and started checking each other’s chute we started yelling one after the other

one ok two ok three ok four ok

so on and so on we stood in the jostling plane about that time machine gun fire ripped through the plane just behind me and kill the man behind me then the light turned green and the doorman started yelling

go go go

and we started moving out I saw I made it to the door and from their it was instinct jump out the door and hold on and let gravity take care of the rest I looked down even though it was dark I could make out a field as I dropped I saw planes being dropped from the sky as I went down I saw our target Saint Mere Eglise then I looked around and I saw where I was going to land in the field then the wind picked up and I was headed for a tree I landed in the tree I crashed down through the branches my chute caught I was dangling about 15 feet in the air I mumbled to myself

I landed in the only god damned tree in this fucking field

I grabbed my knife and started cutting my gear down once I did that I cut myself down once I started cut the last peace of wire I prepared myself for the fall I cut it and I fell right on top of my gear I grabbed my M1 Garand and looked I saw men running up a dirt road about 25 yards from me I knew they weren’t American I pulled up and Boom Boom Boom I shot the men dead I heard more shots coming from the town I got up and ran for the town it was about 25 yards from me I got up and ran across the open ground and I slammed against the side of a building I heard a German yell

feuer weiter hor nicht auf

I grabbed one of my grenades and threw the grenade into an open window then I heard a German yell

grenate

then followed by a

Boom

I rounded the corner and I saw a German he looked at me in fear I did the same thing for a few moments I snapped and charged him I hit him and we went rolling into a puddle the German got up before I could and pulled his Bayonet he thrusted it down at my face I grabbed the bayonet and pushed it away onto the cobblestone street and rolled him with it I got on top of him I grabbed his helmet and smashed him over the head he was unconscious I got up grabbed my M1 and kept moving I came to a house the door was wide open I walked in and went upstairs and I saw Charles and Richard I looked at them and said

you guys good

Richard nodded and said

just peachy

I knelt down and Charles and he a cigarette and a lighter we sat there