Page 5

- for Cornelius Ryan 3 -
Your name

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? We had a truck (2 1/2 ton) of 4.2 ammo
blow up right on top of us. I was about 75 feet from it
taking code on targets to fire on. Dead & wounded all over the
place shells that didn't go off steaming and apt to go off any time.
Yet those who weren't hit got up & walked right thru
that inferno and aided the wounded. I dragged one
man out who was crawling on hands & knees and black from
head to toe. Burnt & wounded all over from bits of shrapnel.
One man (Girton) standing at tailgate of truck never
got scratched. Men two miles away got hit from flying
shells. Machine gun landed 1 mile away.

Where were you at midnight on June 5, 1944? On board U.SS. Bayfield

Where were you at midnight on June 6, 1944? Dug in on little dirt
road outside St.Mere Eglise

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?
Ray Pompei
3100 Wharton St.
Philadelphia
[*LL*]

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
Research, The Reader's Digest