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- for Cornelius Ryan 3 -
Your name John F. White
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?
For the most part as I remember the men rose to the occasion and accomplished
what was necessary. There were many outstanding examples of leadership-non-commissioned
officers taking over when and where their commanders had fallen and all ranks
performing their duties in a matter which was most creditable to the U.S. Army
and our outfit. Especially do I recall the acts of the Medical Corpsmen who, thoug h,
unarmed braved the heaviest fire to reach wounded mem who called for them and need-
ed them. As for stupid acts, if one committed such an act, he in all probability
paid for it with his life. We had trained long and hard for this invasion. We
were good and we were tough and we knew what to do and how to do it. Of course,
this was our first experience under fire and naturally confusion was present, but
after we got our bearings and more or less settled down we proceded on to our
prearranged objectives. You might say that self-reliance and acts of heroism
were the rule that day rather than the exeption.

Where were you at midnight on June 5, 1944? Debarkation Port Dorchester England.

Where were you at midnight on June 6, 1944? Somewhere 6 or 8 miles inland in
Normandy near a small village, the name of which I have forgotten. It could have
been Ste.Mere Gelese, but I am not sure.

Do you know of anybody else who landed within those 24 hours (midnight
June 5 to midnight June 6) as infantry, glider or airborne troops, or
who took part in the air and sea operations, whom we should write to?
Many men from this area were in the 29th Inf. National Guard and left here
when that division was mobilized in 1941 and went on through the whole
campaign. From time to time I run across a good many of these men, but I
can't remember many addresses. If you shpuld visit this area I'll be glad to give
you any leads which I can.

I don't know whether the little material I have given to you will be of any
assistance or not. However, it is very difficult to remember actual detailed
incidents after such a long period of time. Maybe, if you should get down here
to talk to me, I might be a little more helpful.

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 SEPERATE 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