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July 18, 1958

Mr. Gordon MacDonald
3217 Lawndale Road, S.W.
Roanoke, Virginia

Dear Mr. MacDonald:

A history of D-Day, June 6, 1944, to coincide with the 15th anniver-
sary of the Normandy invasion next year is being prepared by Cornelius
Ryan for publication in the Reader’s Digest and in book form. It is
being written with the complete cooperation and assistance of the De-
partment of the Army and the Department of Defense. This will not be
another strategic history of invasion day, but a story of the twenty-
four hours of D-Day as people lived them and remembered them. For
this, we can only go to the men who were there and, if they are willing,
invade their memories. Having learned of the part which you played in
the invasion, we hope very much that you will be interested in the pro-
ject and agree to help us.

During the next few months, both in this country and in Europe, Mr. Ryan
will be interviewing many of the D-Day participants teo agree to con-
tribute to the book. Very probably, he will wish to talk with you during
that period. In the meantime, since we are dealing with literally hun-
dreds of people, we have found it necessary to develop an individual file
on each person who agrees to help us. Therefore, we hope that if you
are interested in the project, you will complete the enclosed record and
return it to me at your earliest convenience. We truly believe that
these questions will serve you, as well as us, if they can help to crystal-
lize some hazy memories and to indicate the sort of information which we
are seeking.

I should be most grateful to know as soon as possible when and if you
will be available for interview during the next few months. We want
very much to tell the story of your unit, and in order to do that we
need your personal account. We look forward eagerly to your reply.

Sincerely yours,

Frances Ward
Research Department

FW:LL
Enclosure