PREPARATIONS FOR THE INVASION

When we moved to Camp Picket, Virginia we started with our "Amphibious Training". We didn't know what it was or meant until later, but we were training for the D-Day landing in Normandy. This was where they took us out from the beach to an old ship anchored off shore out side the breakers in the rough water and we had to climb a rope ladder, it really wasn't a ladder but was a large rope net like thing slung over the side of the ship.

The little LCP (Landing Craft Personnel) boat that we came out in, to the mothership was bouncing around like a cork, riding the waves, sometimes it was closer to the top of the ship and when the big wave passed it would be way down there. Now mind you, all this had to be done in the roughest seas that could be had, and this was done with a full field pack, now a full field pack weighed about 70 pounds and that old long Enfield Rifle, it came in around 9 or 10 pounds, and when we would finally get back on land we had to clean that damned old gun an we never did shoot it, I don't know if it would shoot or not but we cleaned it anyhow.

When the LCP would ride up on that big wave that was the time to grab that net and you had to climb like an ape, because that LCP was trying to get your leg between it and the mother ship. You had to beat the next wave and we would get wetter than a dog, and that water was cold, as it was in late September or thereabouts, then after we had got on top of the ship and we would get warm and dry, it was time to climb back down into that LCP," Landing Craft Personnel", and get wet all over again, this went on all day.

Training continued when we arrived in England. We had Amphibious training all winter, riding those "Ducks" out in the Ocean and climbing those rope nets. I took Pneumonia for the second time and pulled a stint in the hospital. I seen a 6x6 truck one night follow a "Duck" out in the ocean and the Duck just kept going and pretty soon the 6x6 drowned out and was stuck, and there it sat the next morning, just the top sticking out of the water, after the tide came in. We were only allowed to use "cat eyes" on the vehicles and this 6x6 didn't know where he was going and he was just following the tail lights on that "Duck".

The area I was stationed was sealed off from the outside with very strict security measures. No one was allowed outside of our designated area and if caught outside after dark, it was said that we would be shot on the spot. The security was very strict and we marched everywhere that we had to go under guard. One boy went out on a supply truck and mailed a letter to his girlfriend back in Wales and he was only gone for about 2 hours and when they came back the FBI had the letter and was waiting for him. He hadn't said anything in the letter that was of any military significance and he got off with a good chewing out. We just wasn't allowed to write, or talk to any civilians, period.

On June 3, l944 we were loaded in trucks and headed for our ship to load for the invasion. (I am not certain about these times and can't say for sure). It took us about 30 hours to travel less that 20 miles. That was a miserable trip. The trucks would move about 20 feet and stop for awhile and then move another few feet, this went on for around 30 hours and they said the reason for the slow going was that the Germans were coming over at night and taking pictures of the coastline and by the trucks moving so slow it was made to look like that there was a convoy going to the harbor but it wasn't moving much if any but we finally got loaded on the LST "Landing Ship Tank". This is a ship that carries tanks and trucks, the front of it opened in the middle and each half swung outward like doors on hinges and then a ramp come down for the vehicles to go down on.