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- for Cornelius Ryan 3 -
Your name B. B. Talley.

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? Not particularily.

Where were you at midnight on June 5, 1944? Preparing to disembark in a
Dukw, 12 miles offshore of Normandy.

Where were you at midnight on June 6, 1944? One the beach.Shortly after
midnight I crawled into the entrance to a German dugout and slept quietly until
awakend by the heavy German bombardment around daybreak.

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?

Colonel John O'Neill, Engineer, Fifth Army,
Headquarters, Fifth Army,
Chicago, Illinois.

Have written him.

Addenda:
On D-Day, I commanded the V Corps, Information Team, which was a specially
orgainzed signal unit consisting of 5 officers and 17 enlisted men whose duty it
was to give an independent radio account of the landing.We were equipped with 4 radio
stations,- 2 in Dukws, 2 in jeeps. Both jeeps were drowned out,and one dukw received
a direct hit and burned. The remaining dukw throughout D-Day was the only radio station
in operation ashore.With the tactical units, either the operators were killed, or the
stations destroyed.
Every member of my detachment was decorated. I received the DSC, and each
other member the Silver Star f or Gallentryin Action. It is believed this is the largest
single unit in WW II in the army where every member was decorated for bravery.
The account of this team was broadcast on the program "You Are There", which
was on TV 10 Years after D-Day. It was rebroadcast on the Armed Forces Network, and
accounts, or extracts from my D-Day Diary were published in "Saga",- the July 1954
number, I believe it was.
The original of this diary is in the Museum at Arromanches, France. I have a copy.

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