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- for Cornelius Ryan 3 -
Your name Hatch J.J.
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?
I thought one of the finest tricks of the trade was shown by the S-2
of the 1st Battalion of the 502nd Parachute Infantry. We were all up the
night of D-1 flying in and dropping at 0100 on D-Day. We fought all that
day of D-Day, when one of the companies captured about 15 German prisoners,
just prior to darkness. Here we were about asleep standing up, when we were
faced with the problem of guarding these prisoners. Finally the S-2 located
a small stone building behind the farm house where we had located our C.P.
This building had one door and no windows. He had the German prisoners
remove their boots and told them to sleep in the stone building. From some
where the S-2 found two boxes of tacks which he spread around the ground,
inside and outside the door. This small trick was all that guarded the
prisoners that night as everybody fell in exhaustive sleep.
Where were you at midnight on June 5, 1944? we were flying over the English
Channel at midnight 5 June 1944.
Where were you at midnight on June 6, 1944? On midnight 6 June 1944 the
Battalion was on a defensive position just north of the Utah Beach site
with a mission of protecting the right flank of the 4th Infantry Division
as it moved in over the beaches.
Do you know of anybody else who landed within those 24 hours (midnight
June 5 to midnight June 6) as infantry, glider or airborne troops, or
who took part in the air and sea operations, whom we should write to?
Lt. Col. H.S Dickson
1st Airborne Battle Group. 506th Infantry, Fort Campbell, Kentucky
Lt. Col. Laurence j. Corley
2nd Airborne Battle Group, 187th Infantry, Fort Campbell, Kentucky
3. Dickson •n—•
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