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V.N. DEPACE 36 KENWOOD DRIVE CORAOPOLIS, PA. PA 55
For Cornelius Ryan Book about D-day GREEN
THOUSANDS OF MEN, ON LAND AND SEA AND IN THE AIR, PARTICIPATED IN THE INVASION OF NORMANDY BETWEEN MIDNIGHT JUNE 5, 1944 AND MIDNIGHT JUNE 6, 1944. IF YOU WERE ONE OF THEM, PLEASE ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS.
What is your full name? VALENTINE N. DEPACE
What was your unit and division? COMPANY L, 116TH INFANTRY 29TH INFANTRY DIVISION
Where did you arrive in Normandy, and at what time? LEFT SHIP (APA) INTO LCVP BOATS AT 4:00 A.M. AND LANDED ON OMAHA BEACH ABOUT 6:00 A.M. JUNE 6, 1944! (SIXTH WAVE)
What was your rank on June 6, 1944? PVT!
what was your age on June 6, 1944? 20 YRS!
Were you married at that time? NO!
What is your wife's name? MARRIED MAY 15, 1948 - ELIZABETH M. DEPACE!
Did you have any children at that time? NO!
What do you do now? INTERNAL REVENUE AGENT WITH THE DISTRICT DIRECTOR OF INTERNAL REVENUE OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA!
When did you know that you were going to he part of the invasion? I NEVER DID KNOW OFFICIALLY BECAUSE IT WAS TOP SECRET! HOWEVER, OUR OUTFIT DID PARTICIPATE IN PRACTICE INVASION PROBLEMS WHICH GAVE US AN IDEA THAT WE WERE!
What was the trip like during the crossing of the Channel? Do you remember, for example, any conversations you had or how you passed the time? CROSSING THE CHANNEL IN EXTREMELY ROUGH WEATHER WAS QUITE AN ORDEAL! SINCE THE ORIGINAL DATE FOR THE LANDING (JUNE 5) WAS POSTPONED IT WAS QUITE DOUBTFUL THAT THE ACTUAL LANDING (JUNE 6) DATE WOULD TAKE PLACE BECAUSE OF THE ROUGH CHANNEL! THERE WAS QUITE A BIT OF ANXIETY ABOARD SHIP. THE FEELING THAT THE LONG AWAITED MOMENT WAS FINALLY TO COME. HOW WOULD OUR REACTIONS BE AFTER ALL THE RIGOROUS TRAINING WE HAD ENDURED! WOULD WE DO JUST AS WE WERE TAUGHT! WHAT WAS ACTUAL COMBAT LIKE! WHO WAS GOING TO DIE AND WHO WOULD SURVIVE!
What were the rumors on board the boat, ship or plane in which you made the crossing? (Some people remember scuttlebut to the effect that the Germans had poured gasoline on the water and planned to set it afire when the troops came in). THE BIG RUMOR WAS THAT WE HAD AN OMINOUS SECRET WEAPON THAT WOULD MAKE OUR LANDING A SUCCESSFUL ONE. THE MOST PREVALENT RUMOR WAS THAT JUST AS SOON AS WE SECURED A 3000 yd LANDING BEACH AREA WE WERE TO BE REPLACED AND RETURN BACK TO THE STATES!
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- for Cornelius Ryan 2 - Your name VALENTINE N. DEPACE
Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day? NO
Were any of your friends killed or wounded either during the landing or during the day? YES! ALL THAT REMAINED OF OUR PLATOON WAS ONE SQUAD. THE OTHER TWO SQUADS WERE KILLED OR WOUNDED SINCE A GERMAN MORTAT SHELL STRUCK OUR LANDING CRAFT!
Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became casualties? THE FIRST CONTACT I HAD WITH SOMEONE WHO WAS HIT WAS AN INDIVIDUAL WHO BLEEDING FROM A HEAD WOUND HAD BLOOD ALL OVER HIS FACE ASKED ME FOR A CIGARETTE. HOW WAS I GOING TO GIVE THIS BUDDY OF MINE A CIGARETTE SO THAT HE WOULD BE ABLE TO SMOKE IT!
Were you wounded? NOT ON D-DAY! I WAS WOUNDED IN GERMANY JUST 170 DAYS AND NIGHTS AFTER D-DAY.
Do you remember what it was like--that is, do you remember whether you felt any pain or were so surprised that you felt nothing? YES I HAD NO FEELING. JUST AMAZED WONDERMENT AS TO WHAT WAS ACTUALLY HAPPENING. VISUALIZING THE TRACER BULLETS, ACRID BLACK SMOKE OF GUNFIRE, AND THE BEACH FULL OF LIVING AND DEAD!
Do you remember seeing or hearing anything that seems funny now, even though it may not have seemed fumy at the time? ONE SOLDIER COMING IN FROM THE OCEAN UNAWARE THAT A SMOKE GRENADE HAD GONE OFF IN HIS BEHIND POCKET. WITH YELLOW SMOKE STREAMING BEHIND HIM EVERYONE WAS TRYING TO GET HIS ATTENTION SO THAT HE MAY RID HIMSELF OF IT BECAUSE HE WAS A LIVING TARGET! AS HE WAS RUNNING UP THE BEACH SOMEONE FINALLY GOT HIS ATTENTION. WHEN HE TURNED AND SAW WHAT HAD HAPPENED HE STOPPED RUNNING APRUBTLY AND TURNED AND RAN BACK TO THE OCEAN WHERE HE SAT DOWN IN THE WATER AND FLUSHED OUT THE SMOKE GRENADE. ALL DURING THIS EVERYBODY WONDERED WHY HE WASN'T HIT BECAUSE TRACER BULLETS WERE STRIKING NEAR HIM. AFTER HE GOT RID OF THE GRENADE HE GOT UP AND RAN BACK UP THE BEACH SAFELY AND EVERYBODY CHEERED WHEN HE MADE IT!
Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic or simply memorable, which struck you more than anything else? YES. WE WERE PINNED DOWN ON A MINED ROAD LEADING INTO THE TOWN [inserted] GRANVILLE [end inserted] WHEN UP THE ROAD CAME COLONEL CANHAM REGIMENTAL COMMANDER, WITH HIS RIGHT ARM ACROSS HIS CHEST BECAUSE HE HAD BEEN SHOT IN THE HAND AND HE WAS URGING EVERYONE ON EVEN THOUGH WE WERE PINNED DOWN BY MACHINE GUN FIRE. HE SEEMED LIKE A "NAPOLEON" PUSHING HIS MEN ON! WITH HIS VALIANT EFFORT WE SUCCEEDED IN QIPING OUT THE MACHINE GUN NESTS AND PUSHED ON! COLONEL CANHAM HAD REFUSED EVACUATION BECAUSE OF HIS INJURY BECAUSE HE WANTED TO BE WITH HIS MEN AND WE CERTAINLY NEEDED HIS LEADERSHIP AND ENCOURAGEMENT!
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In times of great crisis, people generally show either great ingenuity or self-reliance; others do incredibly stupid things. Do you remember any examples of either from D-day? YES. IN OUR SECOND PLATOON WE HAD AN INDIVIDUAL WHO WAS QUITE POPULAR AND ADMIRED BY ALL. HE WAS KILLED ON D plus 3. HIS PLATOON CAME UPON THE GERMAN SQUAD THAT HAD KILLED HIM! THEY NEVER HAD A CHANCE. IT SO HAPPENED THAT THE GERMANS HAD DUG A TRENCH FOR PROTECTION. WHEN I FINALLY ARRIVED ON THE SCENE EVERY GERMAN HAD BEEN KILLED FROM THE SQUAD WHO HAD MADE THE ERROR AND SUFFERED THE PENALTY FOR KILLING ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR MEN IN THE OUTFIT! Post D-day
Where were you at midnight on June 5, 1944? ON BOARD THE J. CARROLL APA SHIP CROSSING THE ENGLISH CHANNEL APPROACHING NORMANDY AND OMAHA BEACH.
Where were you at midnight on June 6, 1944? THREE OF US WERE IN A HED[inserted]G[end inserted]EROW JUST OFF THE OMAHA BEACH. NONE OF US SLEPT BECAUSE WE WERE SEPARATED FROM OUR COMPANY AND THE ENEMY WAS ALL AROUND US.
Do you know of anybody else who landed within the 24 hours of D-day, June 6, as infantry, glider or airborne troops, or who took part in the air and sea operations, whom we should write to? NOW A BROTHER - IN - LAW - THOMAS P. DALFONSO 15 WASHINGTON DRIVE MONESSEN, PA HE AND I WERE BUDDIES, ALWAYS TOGHETER, ESPECIALLY ON D-DAY! WHEN WE NEARED THE TOWN OF ST. LO HE WAS CAPTURED AND I NEVER HEARD FROM HIM AGAIN UNTIL I CAME BACK TO THE STATES. WE HAD MADE A VOW THAT IF EITHER OF US EVER GOT BACK TO THE STATES WE WOULD MAKE CERTAIN TO LOOK THE OTHER UP AND HAVE A REUNION ALONG WITH FIVE OTHER INDIVIDUALS FROM OUR BASIC TRAINING DAYS! TOM AND I ARE THE ONLY ONES TO [inserted] EVER [end inserted] HOLD THAT REUNION! AS A SIDELIGHT OF OUR REUNION WE VISITED EACH OTHER'S HOME AND FAMILY! THAT'S HOW I MET MY WIFE, HIS SISTER!!!
PLEASE LET US HAVE THIS QUESTIONNAIRE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, SO THAT WE CAN INCLUDE YOUR EXPERIENCES IN THE BOOK. WE HOPE THAT YOU WILL CONTINUE YOUR STORY ON SEPARATE SHEETS IF WE HAVE NOT LEFT SUFFICIENT ROOM. FULL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT WILL BE GIVEN IN A CHAPTER CALLED "WHERE THEY ARE NOW;" YOUR NAME AND VOCATION OR OCCUPATION WILL BE LISTED.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP.
Cornelius Ryan
Frances Ward Research, The Reader's Digest
P.S. I am available at any time for any interviews! Valentine De Pace
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June 5, 1958 36 KENWOOD DRIVE CORAOPOLIS, PA.
Miss Frances Ward Readers Digest 230 Park Ave New York, N.Y.
Dear Miss Ward, Having just read the June issue of the V.F.W. magazine I came across the notice that Readers Digest is to publish a history of D-Day by Cornelius Ryan and that personnel participating in D-Day operations are requested to write you. It is difficult for me to know where to begin as I write you on the eve of the most realistic day of my life just fourteen years ago. There are so many grim realities and episodes that came to my mind as I remember back on that DAY that I am afraid that once I start I mqy be sending you a book instead of just a letter. However, let me just give you the particulars and an episode or two to more or less