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- for Cornelius Ryan 2 -
Your name Charles D. Reed

Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day?
Diaries were not permitted, lest they get into the hands of the
enemy. The memories of that day shall never be forgooten

Were any of your friends killed or wounded either during the landing or
during the day?
Many of my closest friends were killed in the landing; and one
of my closest friends Staff-Sargeant Arthur Moore had his head
torn ofTby a large shall. fragment as he was pulling me out of danger.
Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became
casualties?
My organist Cpl. MeDermott was machine-gunnned and died on the
beach. I talked with him before he expired. He had a premoni-
tion before the invasion that he would never live through the
day. He carried a Bazooka in the invasion and was a quick target
far the enemy.

After being wounded myself, I was able to help another friend
into the beach. He recognized me from a distance , and yelled
to me "Chaplain, are you praying?.” and after he had caught my
attention he said "Pray for me." I had the use of only one leg
but was able to get to him in the water and drag him to shore.

Were you wounded?
I was wounded in the invasion, and later again in Vier, Franc
I was hospitalized in England from the first wound.
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?
My leg was completely numb and had no control of it at all.

Do you remember seeing or bearing anything that seems funny now, even
/ though it did not, of course, seem amusing at the time?
I witnessed our Headquarters Company Commander giving an order
to his men to wipe out a sniper, and during the giving of the
order the sniper shot the Commander through his cheek. The
bullet went through his cheeks but never touched a single tooth.
Ernie Pyle, the news correspondent wrote up the incident in
one of his articles.

Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic, or simply memorable, which struck
you more than anything else?
One of our Aid Men had been called upon to go out to evacuate a
wounded man. All morning he had been reading his prayer missal
( Catholic ) and admiring a picture of his wife and three precious
daughters. He and three other aid men went out, but in the process
of evacuation he was shot by a German sniper, and the wounded men
jumped off the stretcher and took off. They never did find out
who the supposedly wounded man was.

I witnessed many indidents of heroism.

Notes and Questions

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Alice Jennett

There's a note on the left hand margin space that reads: "Cawthorn He's being interviewed in Paris?" I'm assuming that the person being referred to here is the one mentioned in this paragraph answer.