Page 3

- for Cornelius Ryan 2 -
Your name Jesse Newcomb

Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day? No.
we were allowed only a bible and map. which
come in most useful

Were any of your friends killed or wounded either during the landing or
during the day? approx. 1/3 killed or wounded out of 7
Ducks 7 Half Tracks and 6-105 guns- we lost
3 guns-4 Ducks And 3 half tracks either sunk or destroyed.

Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became
casualties?
One is most vivid we were rooting for
the Russians hoping they would distract the
Germans

The last thing I said to my assistant [?Driver?]
and Machine Gunner 50 cal. before the Half track
[?track?] [end crossed out] sank. "Bad eye pyath you had better
inflate your life preserver. I didn't want to dive
off the boat but the officer said
the last I saw of him he was
holding to an angle iron with a
teller mine on it

Were you wounded? No

Do you remember what it was like--that is, do you remember whether you
felt any pain or were you so surprised that you felt nothing?
We were hardened to the fact we knew it
was coming

Do you remember seeing or hearing anything that seems funny now, even
though it did not, of course, seem amusing at the time?
The Navy skipper was young. He sent my
half track off in deep water and it never
did stop sinking. I swam the rest of the
way until I was pulled up by an L.C.I.
and was put ashore by another smaller boat.

Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic, or simply memorable, which struck
you more than anything else?
Two men on the LC.I. claimed they had an
heart attack. So I took their ammo and
guns and went ashore. The L.C.I. was
too badly damaged to stay aboard

When I did get ashore- I was with the 1st Div
Luckily I met an officer who was a mayor
from my home town who gave me valuable
information about my outfit Major Charlie Penick
SO, Boston-VA