The Bedford Boys: One American Town's Ultimate D-day Sacrifice (36 page)
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Authors: Alex Kershaw
27
. John Barnes, interview with author.
28
. Jimmy Green, interview with author.
29
. Ibid.
30
. Ibid.
31
. Balkoski,
Beyond the Beachhead
, p. 9.
32
. John Barnes, interview with author.
33
. Roy Stevens, interview with author.
1
. Jimmy Green, interview with author.
2
. Ibid.
3
. Ibid.
4
. 29th Division D-Day action report, headquarters report, composed by Jack Shea, November 1, 1944, p29d—9.
5
. Ray Nance, interview with author, and “The Suicide Wave,”
Richmond Times-
Disptach
, June 3, 2001.
6
. John Barnes,
Fragments of My Life
(self-published, 2000), p. 63.
7
. Jimmy Green, interview with author.
8
. Roy Stevens, interview with author.
9
. John Barnes, interview with author.
10
. Jimmy Green, interview with author.
11
. Monitor Radio report commemorating D-Day, June 1984.
12
. Roy Stevens, interview with author.
13
. Jimmy Green, interview with author.
14
. Verona Lipford, interview with author.
15
. Jimmy Green, interview with author.
16
. Ibid.
17
. Barnes,
Fragments of My Life
, p. 65.
18
.
Omaha Beachhead
, Historical Department, War Department, 1984, p. 29.
19
. Jimmy Green, interview with author.
20
. Ibid.
1
. George Roach, oral history, The Peter S. Kalikow World War II Oral History Archive, The Eisenhower Center for American Studies, University of New Orleans.
2
.
Bedford Bulletin
, June 6, 1989.
3
. Monitor Radio report commemorating D-Day, June 1984.
4
. Beulah Witt, interview with author.
5
. George Roach, oral history, The Peter S. Kalikow World War II History Archive.
6
. Ibid.
7
.
Omaha Beachhead
, Historical Department, War Department, 1984, p. 29.
8
. Thomas Valance, oral history, The Peter S. Kalikow World War II Oral History Archive.
9
. Ray Nance, quoted in Donald Drez,
Voices of D-Day
(Louisiana State University Press, 1994), p. 213.
10
. Ibid.
11
. Monitor Radio report commemorating D-Day, June 1984.
12
. Ray Nance, interview with author.
13
. Ibid.
14
. Ibid.
15
. Ibid.
16
. Ibid.
1
. Account of Breeden’s first actions, see S.L.A Marshall’s “First Wave on Omaha Beach,”
Atlantic Monthly
, November 1960.
2
. Ibid.
3
. Russell Pickett, interview with author.
4
. Ibid.
5
. Bob Sales, interview with author
6
. Ibid.
7
. Ibid.
8
. Joseph Balkoski,
Beyond the Beachhead
(Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, 1989), p. 152.
9
. Bob Sales, interview with author.
10
. Ibid.
11
. Ibid.
12
. Ibid.
13
. Ibid.
14
. One of the few photographs of 116th Infantry wounded on Omaha shows Sales a few feet from a bandaged Smith.
15
. Bob Sales, interview with author.
16
. Ibid.
17
. Hal Baumgarten, oral history, The Peter S. Kalikow World War II History Archive, The Eisenhower Center for American Studies, University of New Orleans.
18
. Harold Baumgarten,
Eyewitness on Omaha Beach
, (self-published, 2000), p. 21.
19
. Ibid.
20
. Ibid.
21
. Baumgarten, oral history, The Peter S. Kalikow World War II History Archive.
22
. Baumgarten, interview with author.
23
. John Barnes, interview with the author.
24
. John Barnes,
Fragments of
My
Life
(self-published, 2000), p. 66.
25
. Ibid.
26
. Roy Stevens, interview with author.
27
. Jimmy Green, interview with author.
28
. Ibid.
29
. Russell Pickett, interview with author.
30
. Verona Lipford, interview with author.
31
. John Barnes,
Fragments of My Life
, p. 66.
32
. Bob Slaughter, interview with author.
33
. The Battle of Omaha Beach is thought to be the only time in history when American wounded were not evacuated to the rear but instead dragged forward into the front line.
34
. Along the four miles of Omaha, there were three thousand other dead or seriously wounded men.
35
. Paul Carell,
Invasion, They’re Coming
(New York: Bantam, 1960), p. 86.
36
. Ibid., p. 85.
1
. Joseph Balkoski,
Beyond the Beachhead
(Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, 1989), p. 134.
2
. Lieutenant Shea, after-action report, D-Day, 29d, p. 12.
3
. Ibid.
4
. His body was later recovered from the shallows where it had lain floating. Shea report, p. 12.
5
. “21 of the 743rd’s 51 medium tanks were finally knocked-out on the beach. Only 30 successfully passed through the exits. They left at about 1930 hours on D-Day, all of them through the Vierville exit.” Shea report, p. 13.
6
. Ibid.
7
. Ibid., p. 17.
8
. Monitor Radio report commemorating D-Day, June 1984.
9
. Untitled memoir, Bedford County Museum, World War II File.
10
. Ray Nance, interview with author. See also the
Bedford Bulletin
, June 6, 1994.
11
.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
, June 3, 2001.
12
. Harold Baumgarten,
Eyewitness on Omaha Beach
(self-published, 2000), p. 31.
13
. Bob Slaughter, oral history, The Peter S. Kalikow World War II History Archive, The Eisenhower Center for American Studies, University of New Orleans. Quoted in Russell Miller,
Nothing Less Than Victory
(New York: William Morrow, 1993), pp. 328–329.
14
. Baumgarten,
Eyewitness on Omaha Beach
, p. 32.
15
. Quoted, Web-site report, United States Army Medical Department & School Information Service.
16
. Bob Slaughter, oral history, The Peter S. Kalikow World War II History Archive.
17
. Presley would later be awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, as would Canham and Cota.
18
. Bob Slaughter, oral history, The Peter S. Kalikow World War II History Archive.
19
.
Omaha Beachhead
(Washington: Historical Department, War Department, 1984), p. 56.
20
. Ronald Drez,
Voices of D-Day
(Louisiana State University Press, 1994), pp. 219–220.
21
. Cornelius Ryan,
The Longest Day
(New York: Touchstone, 1994), p. 265.
22
. Russell Pickett, interview with author.
23
. Hal Baumgarten, interview with author. Mitchum would later play Cota in the film,
The Longest Day
, based on Cornelius Ryan’s eponymous classic.
24
. Shea report, p. 17. Account of Cota’s actions on D-Day taken mainly from Shea’s excellent report.
25
. Ibid., pp. 18–19.
26
. Ibid., p. 19.
27
. Ibid., p. 20.
28
. Ibid.
29
. Ibid.
30
. Baumgarten,
Eyewitness on Omaha Beach
, p. 38.
31
. Robert Walker, oral history, The Peter S. Kalikow World War II History Archive.
32
. Barnes,
Fragments of My Life
, pp. 65–67.
33
. Shea report, p. 23.
34
. Roy Stevens, interview with author.
35
. Monitor Radio report commemorating D-Day, June 1984.
36
.
Omaha Beachhead
, p. 95.
37
.Warner Hamlett, oral history, The Peter S. Kalikow World War II History Archive.
38
. Ray Nance, interview with author.
39
. Baumgarten,
Eyewitness on Omaha Beach
, p. 40.
40
. Ibid., pp. 42–43.
41
. Thomas Valance, oral history, The Peter S. Kalikow World War II History Archive.
42
. Gerald Astor,
June 6, 1994
(New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1994), p. 297.
43
. Harry Parley, oral history, The Peter S. Kalikow World War II History Archive.
44
. Bob Slaughter, oral history, The Peter S. Kalikow World War II History Archive. “I realized it didn’t make any difference whether one was a superior soldier, was more religious, or better character. People were being killed randomly and they could not help themselves.”
45
. Bob Sales, interview with author.
46
. Baumgarten,
Eyewitness on Omaha Beach,
p. 43.
47
. Hal Baumgarten, interview with author.
1
. Stephen Ambrose,
D-Day
(New York: Touchstone, 1994), p. 489.
2
. Elva Newcomb, interview with author.
3
.
Richmond Times-Dispatch,
May 28, 2000.
4
. Ivylyn Hardy, interview with author.
5
. Bettie Wilkes Hooper, interview with author.
6
. Bertie Woodford, interview with author.
7
.
Bedford Bulletin
, June 1, 1944.
8
. Advertisement,
Bedford Bulletin,
June 8, 1944.
9
. Eleanor Yowell, letter to “Pinky,” June 6, 1944.
10
. Rebecca Wingfield, interview with author.
11
. Allen Huddleston, interview with author.
12
.
The Times
(London), June 7, 1944.
13
. Typescript, D-Day Museum, New Orleans.
14
. Eloise Rogers, interview with author.
15
. Anne Frank,
The Diary of a Young Girl
(New York: Doubleday, 1967), p. 268.
16
.
Bedford Bulletin
, June 7, 1944.
17
. Mrs. George P. Parker, Bedford County World War II Committee,
Reports and Correspondence
Concerning Bedford County in World War II, 1943–1945
, June 6, 1944.
18
.
Bedford Bulletin
, June 8, 1944.
19
.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
, May 28, 2000.
20
. Parker report, June 7, 1944.
21
.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
, May 28, 2000.
22
.
Bedford Bulletin
, June 1, 1944.
23
.
New York Times
, June 7, 1944.
1
. John Barnes,
Fragments of My Life
(self-published, 2000), p. 67.
2
. Ibid., p. 68.
3
. Ronald Drez,
Voices of D-Day
(Louisiana State University Press, 1994), p. 221.
4
. Roy Stevens, interview with author.
5
. Ibid.
6
. Ibid.
7
. Ibid.
8
. Barnes,
Fragments of My Life
, p. 68.
9
. Roy Stevens, interview with author.
10
. Barnes,
Fragments of My Life
, p. 68.