Cornelius Ryan WWII papers, box 015, folder 24: Leo Frey

CG LOS ANGELES FREY, Leo Cal 8

Box 15, #24

Oddity

Arrived: 0300 COAST GUARD OMAHA LST #16 Chief Motor Machinist Mate

THREE ANECDOTES:

1) "I was havig a large bowl of coffee on the fantail of my ship when the Navy-manned LST 266 passed us by slowly. There was my brother-in-law, William Opferkuch, GM 2/c, doing the same thing on the fantail of the 266. We had a little conversion about the invasion."

2) "When I saw thesize of our invasion force laying off the beach- head at early morning light, I remarked to my buddy, Tom Street, in an exaggerated fashion, 'You can almost jump from one ship to another into the beach without getting wet.'

3) While we lay on the beach unloading, with no water under us as far back as admidship, I noticed a dead Ranger lying partly submerged in a hole in the sand. A demolition officer removed the dead Rangers' un- exploded charges from the back of the Ranger's shoulders. After this, other men removed the body back under a demolished tank above the high water mark."

Dead

CG--TE Long Beach In Calif. til Aug .13 LL CAL 8

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? MR. LEO FREY

What was your unit and division? LST #16 (The abreviations are for Landing Ship, Tank

Where did you arrive in Normandy, and at what time? We arrived off "OMAHA" beachhead at approximately 0300 - 6th June, 1944 Our beach area was "Green beach," "OMAHA" beachhead.

What was your rank on June 6, 1944? Chief Motor Machinist Mate

What was your age on June 6, 1944? 25 yrs. of age.

Were you married at that time? yes

What is your wife's name? MURIEL PATRICIA FREY

Did you have any children at that time? I had a son born the day before Anzio Invasion, 21 Jan. 1944 and he was almost 9 months old before I saw him for the first time.

What do you do now? I entered the Coast Guard in FEB. 1941, intending to make it my career, & have done so. I am now a Warrant Officer with over 17 yrs. service & am presently stationed aboard the weather patrol ship Minnetonka - WPG-67 out of Long Beach, California.

When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? The first definite word was approximately 2nd June, 1944 when we loaded troops at Falmouth, England. 29th Division, 1st Army.

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? The initial trip was calm and the course of conversation was the invasion of the continent and what country we were to land in. Difference of opinion whether it would be France, Belgium, Holland. We hit heavy fog for awhile and were following a fog buoy from the ship forward of us. One of the infantry men spotted it, thought it was a periscope & commenced firing his MI at it, to no avail of course.

What were the rumors on board the [crossed out] boat, [end crossed out] ship or [crossed out] plane [end crossed out] in which you made the crossing? (Some people remember scuttlebut to the effect that the Germans had poured gasoline on the water and planned to set it afire when the troops came in). We had heard about "Jerry" and the gasoline trap. Heard about the Jerry's "E" boats; heavy mine laying of the coastal waters and also the very numerous subs that Jerry had concentrated in the channel.

- for Cornelius Ryan 2 - Your name LEO FREY

Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day ? I have a diary that I started May 1st 1943 + kept up till 7th July 1944 with dates only.

Were any of your friends killed or [crossed out] wounded [end crossed out] either during the landing or during the day? YES. A shipmate was killed running in to the beach head in our LCVP boat. He has volunteered as a relief crew member. 3 other Navy men were wounded in the same explosion, but the only death was the C.G. seaman

Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became casualties ? I only know him by sight and heard his name only once before he was killed. He had just joined the ship only a few months prior to the invasion.

Were you wounded ? No

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?

Do you remember seeing or hearing anything that seems funny now, even though it did not, of course, seem amusing at the time? I was having a large bowl of coffee on the fantail of my ship (LST 16) when the Navy manned LST 266 passed us by slowly. My brother-in-law, William Opferkuch, GM 2/c was doing likewise on the 266 + we had a little conversation regarding the invasion. When I saw the size of our invasion force of ships laying off the beachhead at early morning light I remarked to my buddy, Tom Street, in an exaggerated fashion-- "You can almost jump from one ship to another into the beach without getting wet."

Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic, or simply memorable, which struck you more than anything else? The only sad + heroic incident I recall was while we lay on the Beach unloading, with no water under us as far back as amidship, I noticed a dead Ranger laying partly submerged in a hole in the sand. A demolition officer removed the dead Rangers' unexploded charges from the back of the Rangers shoulders. After completing this, other men removed the body back under a demolished tank above the high water mark.

- for Cornelius Ryan 3 - Your name LEO FREY

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? No. It is quite true as you state and I have seen heroic + utterly stupid occurances on various other invasions, but I can't recall any during D day.

Where were you at midnight on June 5, 1944? Aboard the LST 16 - in the English Channel, off the Normandy Coast.

Where were you at midnight on June 6, 1944? Same as above.

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? 1). William [crossed out] Opferkuch [end crossed out] Cooke, 160 B Smith St. Peekskill, N.Y. 2). Thomas Street 96 Kenwood Rd. River Edge, New Jersey.

I have printed a poem that was written by a middle aged crew member. He was formerly a schoolteacher in some hill billy mountain town in Tennessee. The complete poem covers all our invasion, but in compliance with your letter -- the 24 hrs. of D-Day, Normandy--only.

OVER

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

29th April 1958

Mr. Leo Frey [crossed out]1736 Stuart Court[end crossed out] 2660 Baltic Ave. [crossed out]Duluth 3, Minnesota[end crossed out] Long Beach(10), Calif.

Dear Miss Ward,

I recently read in the Coast Guard Weekly Report of Activity that you were seeking information regarding the invasion of Normandy.

I was stationed aboard the C. G. manned L.S.T. #16 during the invasion of "Omaha" beach. I have it listed in my rough diary as laying off the beachhead at 0300 hrs. on the 7th June, which might be in error as I do believe it was the 6th June, as we left Falmouth, England on the 2nd June with the 29th Division of the 1st Army & convoyed at 0800 - 5th June, 1944.

We lost our L.C.V.P. boat and one crew member during our initial landing period due to one of the many underwater mines that were so plentiful.

I have a pretty well written poem concerning my LST written by one of our crew members that you might deem worthy of publishing. I also have a few snapshots