Page 5

- for Cornelius Ryan 3 -
Your name Robert L. Bearden

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?

The most stupid thing I can recall happened to me. I had blown the
safe in the office of the Commander of Troops (ferrsville) and had
what I thought to be a million [crossed out][illegible][end crossed out] dollars as well as the first
German flag to fall in France. During a brief moment of no activity
I sat behind a Church and counted my loot and ate some cheese --
during which time all the troops withdrew from the town. This, I
discovered when Krauts were at the front of the Church. After a
dash through the grave yard, my money began to spill out onto the
street as the counterattack increased. I stopped, fired back down
the street with my tommy-gun in one hand, and gathered up my money
with the other. This stupid act very near cost my life.

Where were you at midnight on June 5, 1944? I believe we were on the
ground, as we had taken off after dark and didn't fly too long
before jumping.
Where were you at midnight on June 6, 1944? We were defending a position
about three heagerows deep in one direction and one hedgerow deep
in the other direction, just across the swamp from Ferrsville.
Perhaps thirty miles form the beaches.

Do you know of anybody else who landed withing those 24 hours (midnight
June 5 to midnight 6) as infantry, glider or airborne troops, or
who took part in the air and sea operations, whom we should write to?

[inserted] Have we
got
Kuhn? [end inserted]

Col. William Kuhn, who only last year commanded the troops
in Little Rock, was my Bn. Commander. He was left in a hedge
row, I believe with a broken back. He commanded the unit which
jumped deepest into the Cherburg Peninsula on D-Day.His last
Stateside address was 187th RCT, Fort Campbell, Ky., and for
my money he was the best soldier in Normandy - though a back
injury on the jump prevented his active leadership.

John Stevens, Dell, Arkansas, was a platoon leader(Lt) in
H Co, 507th Prcht Inf. Presently he is a community leader
and plantation owner in Dell, Ark.

John Hughes, a platoon leader (Lt) as Stevens above, is now
Major John Hughes, in the Engineers at Ft Belvoir, Va.

Bartley Hale, reitred Captain living in Columbus, Ga. was
well informed as to D-Day activity. He wrote my family of
my being reccommended for the DSC after my capture on the 12th.
He was an old soldier, and a very good soldier.

[inserted] Check
these
people? [end inserted]

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 SEPARATE 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