- for Cornelius 2 -
Your name Ben Pearson
Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day? NO
Were any of your friends killed or wounded either during the landing or
during the day?
Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became
casualties?
not D-day
Were you wounded? I was captured on D plus 4 days, escaped D plus
6, and finally made contact with our unit on D plus 9 or 10.
Was assigned as Batallion commander, and was wounded after about 30 day[s]
Do you remember what it was like--that is, do you remember whether you
Del4* any pain or were you so surprised that you felt nothing ? I was shot in [crossed out] kx [end crossed out]
the side of the face by a snipper. I well remember the blow, as it
felt like some one hit me with a sledge hammer. There was no real
pain, but I was knocked out, and each time I tried to get on my feet,
I would black out. My face was num, and I was bleeding, and the hole
felt about the size of my fist (even though it was only a small
caliber rifle that was used) Some of our first aid men finally found me
Do you remember seeing or hearing anything that seems funny new,
though it did not, of course, seem amusing at the time?
The Chaplain and I were close friends, as a matter of fact we roomed
together some when in England before the invasion. Before leaving
the States I had been invited (together with 2 other officers ) on a
deer hunt up in Wyoming. ( We were stationed at the time in Alliance
[margin] Post D-day [end margin] Nebr.) I had never been on a deer hunt and all the other Officers
kidded the three of us going on the hunt, that we all would come back
with out any deer. Of course we were forced to bet that we would
each get a deer. We hunted all over the mountain and none of us shot
a deer, however there was a family living up here and they had deer
strung up all over the place (wintercold) We traded ammunition for
deer, and each brought back a nice size deer. All three of us pledged
not to tell how we came about the deer, which we did, and collected our
bets. One of my bets which I collected was from the Chaplin. We both
were captured at the same time on D plus 4, and when taken into the (over)
Dc you recall any incident, sad heroic, or simply memorable, which struck
you more than anything else?
The day after we landed , I had been able to
collect [inserted] together [end inserted a dozen or two paratroopers, and we came across one of our
soldiers that had been very badly shot in both arms. A german had
shot him with an automatic pistol, and had almost torn his arms off.
[margin] Post D-day [end margin] The flesh was off in places to the bone. We had no aid man in the
group, and the man was in severe pain, and could not keep pace with
the group. The area was literally swarming with [crossed out] xxxx [end crossed out] German anti-para-
troop soldiers. However the Chaplain volunteered to stay with the
wounded soldier, until an aid man was located. One felt fairly secure
with the group, but to be left alone in a hot spot such as that, really
impressed me, and still stands out in my memory of those eary combat
days.
The Chaplain was Robert Hennon
St. Lous MO
507th Para. Regiment
EN