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- for Cornelius Ryan 2 -
Your name Gus L. Sanders

Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day?
No, but I have the book "The Saga of the All American, which is
a history of the 82 starting with WWI and Sgt York, and going thru
the war with the present 82 as paratroopers. You may see it.
WWII

Were any of your friends killed or wounded either during the landing or
during the day? yes , I took in 37 men 2 other officers in
my platoon and came out less than 40 days later with
no officers and 7 men. (Not all K.I.A. but wounded etc.)

Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became
casualties? yes
Some had it seems, premonition they were not going to last,
yet would push on and take all kind of chances, and showing they
were unafraid to die, othere did not know, one Sgt in my platoon,
was killed by a straffing from one of our planes, he and I were
talking about California, and he was making plans to return there
after the war, and telling me about his family, just minutes before
he was straffed. His arm was [crossed out] turn [end crossed out] [inserted] shot [end inserted] off by a 50 and he never did
say one word, died from shock, and he along with others is why this
country remains a free country, that we hope God still smiles on.

Were you wounded? yes slightly, I have a purple heart and two clusters
for wounds, Sicily, Normandy, and the Bulge.(Lung, [crossed out] Leg [end crossed out] ribs, leg)

Do you remember what it was like--that is, do you remember whether you
felt any pain or were you so surprised that you felt nothing?
I was shot thru the lung in Sicily by a rifle bullet from an
Italian solder. It stung like fire, as a hot needle went thru
my body, but did not have much real pain, My men could not find a
medic, and when they got one, he was shot, so I almost died from
loss of blood. Were it not for the British I would be a dead duck, and
I will always be grateful to Montgomenys 8th Army for taking care of
me, as well as English doctors and nurses. They are tops in my books.
Was in hospital
in Sicily, Tripoli
CAIRO and TEL AVIV
with lung wound
in Sicily

Do you remember seeing or hearing anything that seems funny now, even
though it did not, of course, seem amusing at the time? Yes.
We had been fighting hard all day in Normandy, were dug in for
night, and our little plane was out flying patrol, and looking for
artillery from the Germans. It had been flying back and fourth, and
at that time things were quiet. We took this little town, and our
battallion pushed on thru the town, and on a hill overlooking the
little town. It was a small place with a small courtyard, and a very
large and high tree in the center of the little village. As the plane
was flying back, two ME 109's came in from his blind side and dived
on him, we could see it but the observer could not , as both of them [inserted] 109's [end inserted]
pulled out ot their dive they let loose a burst , their tracers [crossed out] [illegible] [end crossed out]
woke the pilot up to what was happening, he was over the little village
he fell out of the sky, we thought he had been hit. The 109's came
back looking, for him, and missed him, as he was flying about the
base of the tree. When they went away out little plane finally came
out and went home, after looking all over the
horizon for [crossed out] [illegible] [end crossed out] stray German plane.
Post
D-day?

Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic, or simplpy memorable, which struck
yau more than anything else?
Yes, first the treatment we got from the French people, they were
glad we were there, they were the simple farm people, and had lived
hard lives under the Germans. They helped all they could, and protected
our wounded troopers, hiding them from German Patrols several times,
my boys later told me. If Americans today could have seen those
troppers in St Mere Eglise, who were shot and bayonetted before they
ever got out of their chutes, they would realize the price of freedom
[crossed out] [illegible] [end crossed out] paid since the Revolutionary war by her men and women. Many who
were killed, had not fired a shot, and were left hanging in trees
where their chutes had caught in the trees. These are the unsung hero's
of the war, not those of us who returned.