 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 The Invasion
Interactive feature of the most complex attack ever conceived
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
E-mail your letter to the editor
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dwayne Burns, in dress uniform 1945
|
Posted Sunday, May 23, 2004
A private with the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Burns, 19, landed behind enemy lines, far from his drop zone
At 22:30, all over England, engines started. We were ready to go. Now here we sat, each man alone in the dark with his own thoughts and fears. "Lord," I prayed, "please let me do everything right. Don't let me get anybody killed, and don't let me get killed either. I really think I'm too young for this. I should be home having a good time. Who ever told me I was a fighter anyway?" We blacked our faces with burnt cork. Some of the guys cut their hair Mohawk style. Some shaved it all off. Each trooper was going into combat in whatever style that suited him best. I left mine in a crew cut.
Finally, the signal came down to us to get aboard. We shook hands and wished one another good luck, saying, "We'll see you on the ground." We chuted up and pulled the adjustment straps down good and tight because we knew we were so loaded that we were going to get one hell of an opening shock. The two chutes, rifle, two bandoliers, cartridge belt, first-aid kit, shovel, canteen kit, jump knife, trench knife, bayonet, gas mask, land mine, rations, billfold, clean socks and underwear, toothbrush, New Testament and message book, plus other odds and ends—I must have weighed well over 300 lbs. Once we were chuted up, we had to stay on our feet because it would be impossible to get back up without help. We pushed and pulled one another up the steps just to get up the plane.
In the air, we start picking up flak, light at first. I know we have just crossed the coastline. Flak is getting heavy as we stand waiting for the green light. Now the plane's being hit from all sides. The noise is awesome. The roar of the engines, the flak hitting the wings and fuselage—and everyone is yelling, "Let's go!," but still the green light does not come on. The plane is bouncing like something gone wild. I can hear a ticking sound as machine-gun rounds walk across the wings. It's hard to stand up, and troopers are falling down and getting up; some are getting sick. Of all the training we had, there was not anything that prepared us for this. Then the red light goes out, and the green snaps on. We shuffle out the door into the dark fresh air.
I'm amazed at how quiet it is outside. We were to jump at 600 ft., but it seems to be much higher than that. I hear the sound as the ship fades away. I seem to be far south of our drop zone. It looks like I'm on the outer edge of all the action. To the north, I see tracers arcing across the sky. And in spite of all of this going on, I think of how beautiful they appear.
I look down. I can just make out rows of trees. I think to myself, This is France, and now I'm in combat. This is for real. I landed in a long, narrow field with two antiglider poles in it, and I hit hard and roll over on my back, tangled in my shroud lines. I see one chute go down behind the trees on the other side of the field, so I know that I'm not completely alone. I've landed on good solid ground. I lie in the grass trying to get out of my harness. In my mind's eye, I can see Germans running with fixed bayonets to kill me, and I'm having trouble with the harness buckles. To say I'm scared is an understatement. I reach down to my right ankle and pull out my trench knife and stick it in the ground beside me. I think at least a knife is better than no weapon at all. Then I unsnap my harness, untangle myself, stand up and run to the hedgerow where I saw the chute go down.
"Flash" was our code word, and countersign was "Thunder." We also had been given a child's cricket snapper. One snap was to be answered by two snaps ... or was it the other way around? "Oh, hell," I mutter. "Just snap the damn thing a few times." In reply, I get, "Look out, I'm coming over." He sounds good to me, and I say, "Come on."
The two of us went back across the field that I had landed in and found some troopers coming up the hedgerow. I didn't know who they were, but right now it didn't make any difference as long as I was with somebody. We moved north about 100 yds. and stopped. It was there I saw my first German. While we were stopped, I thought I'd have a look over the top of the hedgerow to see what was on the other side. I climbed up and slowly looked over, and as I did, a German on the other side raised up and looked over. I couldn't see his features, just a square silhouette of his helmet. We stood there looking at each other, then slowly each one of us went back down. I sat there wondering what to do about him. I could throw a grenade over, but I might kill more troopers than Germans. While I sat there thinking, we started to move again, so I left him sitting on his side of the hedgerow wondering what to do about me.
|
|
