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ARTHUR J. MARTIN
JOSEPH W. BREEN
JOHN F. DAVIS

TELEPHONE HANCOCK 6- 6550
6552

JOHN J. DOLAN
ATTORNEY AT LAW
BOX 1272, 141 MILK STREET
BOSTON 4. MASS.

March 23, 1959

Lt. General James M. Gavin
c/o Arthur D. Little, Inc.
30 Memorial Drive
Cambridge, Mass.

Dear General Gavin:

Thank you for your letter of March 10, 1959. It had always
been my intention of answering the questionnaire of Cornelius Ryan;
but realizing that it would take considerable time to give a detailed
and accurate account, I kept putting it aside and then completely
forgot about it until Bob Murphy spoke to me about it a few days before
receipt of your letter.

I shall try to cover as much detail without making this letter
too voluminous, leaving it to your judgment and discretion to delete
any portion that you deem unfavorable to the outfit.

You may recall that I was in command of Company "A", 505
Prcht.Infantry, with the rank of First Lieutenant. The specific mission
of the Company "A" was to seize and defend the bridge crossing the
Merderet River on the road that ran East to West from Ste. Mere Eglise,
with the purpose of preventing the movement of German troops down to
the beach-head.

I don't recall exactly what time the first Batallion jumped,
but it was between 1:00 and 2:00 a.m. on "D" Day. We hit out drop zone
right on the nose, because within twenty minutes to one-half hour, I
knew our exact location. I was able to identify a "T" intersection,
dirt roads 8 to 10 feet wide, near our drop zone. The upper arm of which
ran generally east to west, the vertical arm running north to south, to
meet the road running from Ste. Mere Eglise to our objective, the
bridge at the Merderet River.

We had the usual problems of re-organization in the dark; however,
about an hour before dawn, Company "A" moved out from the drop zone with
about ninety (90) per cent of the men accounted for. (This was not
due to luck alone, but to the cooperation of my Officers, Non-Coms, and
last but not least, training. Men who have to fight in the night should