Into Hell

Spring in coastal Normandy along the French beaches was a magical time unless it was 1944. There were no gleeful noises of vacationers along the Normandy beaches that spring. Hitler had invaded France several years earlier and the French people were then under the tyrannical influence of German troops, who had taken up residence in the nearby towns and villages around Normandy, building gun turrets and fortifications to bolster the coastal region defenses facing the English Channel. Magic times appeared gone forever.

French citizens spoke in hushed tones lest a German sympathizer hear or mistake a comment that could lead to arrest. One never knew who was listening or who was a spy for the feared Germans. No one dared refuse the Germans anything, whether it be their home, their food, or their land, and the German soldiers had a tastes for French wines. The outlook was bleak if you were a Frenchman during those dismal times.

Anxious eyes cast out over the English Channel searched the waters for any sign that reported Allied help was coming, only to have those reports cascade into rumors that bore no fruit. Days turned into weeks, then months, and then years, with no sign of help. The spring of 1944 appeared to be a repeat of the previous springs. Such was the life in France under Hitlers reign.

But help was coming. And it was to be dramatic. Herein is the story of one man who took part in not only the invasion of Normandy on D-Day (winning the Bronze Star) but also in Holland for Operation Market Garden, where he won the DSC, as well as in the freezing cold December at Bastogne, where the 101st Airborne Division was surrounded and cut off from help. He left there with a Silver Star.