Page 2

GA 29

AB-TE
[radio bit]

Savannah, Georgia

Columbus

LR

This guy
should be good
if he can be kept
on the subject

For Cornelius Ryan
Book about D-Day

THOUSANDS OF MEN, ON LAND AND SEA AND IN THE AIR, PARTICIPATED IN THE
INVASION OF NORMANDY BETWEEN MIDNIGHT JUNE 5, 1944 AND MIDNIGHT JUNE
6, 1944. IF YOU WERE ONE OF THEM, PLEASE ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS

What is your full name? Ben F Pearson

What was your unit and division? 507th Parachute Regiment, 82nd AB Div.

Where did you arrive in Normandy, and at what time? Exact place where
we landed is not known, as we missed our D.Z. We
landed, I believe, sometime around 2 A.M.

What was your rank on June 6, 1944? Major [check mark]

What was your age on June 6, 1944? 29 yrs.

Were you married at that time ? No.

What is your wife's name ?

Did you have any children at that time ?

What do you do now? Vice President, Southport Paint Company

When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion?
When we went overseas in November of 1943, however not definite on
the area until about April 1944.

What was the trip like during the crossing of the Channel? Do you remember,
for example, any conversations you had or how you passed the time?
I was in one of the lead planes, and I can well remember standing
in the door of the C-47 and looking back and as far as I could
see (moon light) there were planes in V formation. [crossed out] in front as
well as to the rear. [end crossed out] I also well remember looking down and seeing
white breakers as we approached the coast of France. As we
approached the coast, we received small arms fire , and immediately
went into a fog or some type of smoke screen. This caused our
pilots to break formation, and most of the regiment [crossed out] wx [end crossed out] did not hit
[crossed out] come near hitting [end crossed out] their Drop zone. In addition the pilots failed
to slow our plane down ( jumping speed is usually around 110) this
caused a very bad jerk when the chute opened, but the worst part
was the distance in which the stick was [crossed out] xxxx [end crossed out] spread on the ground.
I was only able to find 2 men in my stick ( one of these, the chaplain)

What were the rumors on board the boat, ship or plane in which you made
the crossing? (Some people remember scuttlebut to the effect that the
Germans had poured gasoline on the water and olanned to set it afire when
the troops came in). There was not too much conversation aboard , however
there was a good bit in our confined area where we spent about 2 wks.
before the D-day. The thing that had a good many of us wondering
about, was a good many spotted [crossed out] px [end crossed out] open areas. This was interpreted
by the air photo experts as being some type of anti airborne install-
ation. There was no way to know exactly what this consist of, however
most of us could visulize some type of sharp spears which would spear
us as we landed. (We actually landed inone of these areas, however
they were only large size poles embeded, mostly to prevent gliders
from landing, they did not do much damage to us however.)