Bob Salley 326th A/B Eng. Bat. 101st ABN Division

I went into Normandy by boat on D-day+1. We had some engineer equipment with us that they didn't have room for in the Gliders. I crossed the channel on the Susan B Anthony. I was on this ship together with approximately three-thousand other soldiers.

On the morning of that June 7, at about 0800 when the ship was five miles of the coast and nearest to Utah Beach, the ship struck a German mine which blew a hole in the side, below the waterline. We were very fortunate that the ship sunk very slowly, so that we had time to put the men in the Landingcraft and lifeboats that were strapped to the sides of the ship. Other ships came to the rescue. When deck of the ship disappeared below the water on and a half hours after it had struck the mine, all the soldiers had been evacuated to other ships. There had not been time to take any equipment with us, so we had no choice then to join the rest of our unit that had landed by glider, with nothing more than the stuff we were carrying.

Read about his memories of the Holland drop here...