Page 5

July 14, 1958

Col.Fred McManaway
Fort Missoula
Missoula, Montana
Dear Col. McManaway:
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 Readerfs 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 who agree to
contribute to the book. Very probably, he will wish to talk with you
during that period. In the meantime, since we are dealing with liter-
ally hundreds of people, we have found it necessary to develop an in-
dividual file on each person who agrees to help us. Therefore, we hope
that if you are interested in the project, you will complete the en-
closed 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 crystallise 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