One of my brother's men on Omaha beach, seventeen-year-old US Navy Seaman Bob Guere, in less than 30 minutes after he had been "drafted" into the infantry by an Army colonel on the beach, single-handedly destroyed one of those pillboxes by crawling on his belly to directly beneath one of the gun slits and tossing an explosive satchel through it. For his actions, he was awarded the Silver Star. At the end of my interview with him on Sep 11, '01, (yes, the day of the WTC destruction) he reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a photo while saying, "Here I am standing in front of that same pillbox on Jun 6 of this year."
I had the very distinct honor and pleasure of interviewing several of my brother's men and several of the equally brave Coasties who delivered them to the beach on that fateful day of June 6, 1944, the memory of which should make all Americans, British, Canadians and other allies stand tall with pride. I was also highly honored and deeply humbled to present the Presidential Unit Citation to members of the unit, 6th Naval Beach Battalion, who had not yet received it - 57 years overdue. I was ten years old when those brave men stormed that beach. I'm appalled that it took 57 years and a 67-year-old RETIRED officer of the US Air Force to officially tell them, "Thank you." Still and forever humbled, Wilton ----- Original Message ----- From: "LarryT" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Mercedes Discussion List" <mercedes@okiebenz.com> Sent: Saturday, June 21, 2008 11:59 AM Subject: Re: [MBZ] June 6, 1944 > Sorry it took me so long to follow the link and see the photos - the 1st > photo that appears is an incredible view of what the men faced once the big > door was dropped - it looks like the German positions are a mile away - it's > amazing that *any* men made it across all that open land! > > While the smoke probably helped the men avoid some enemy fire it also > made it tougher for the Navy ships to use their guns against the pillboxes - > destroyers finally closed near the beach and risked grounding to allow them > to fire nearly pointblank into the pilboxes. Surviving Germans said they > had no chance against that firepower - the pillboxes were designed to > withstnd bombing attacks and land attacks but having a 5" gun firing > firectly into the slits gave them *no* chance. Thanks to the destroyers > many enemy positions were destroyed allowing the ground pounders to advance. > > Larry T (66 MGB, 74 911, 91 300D) > www.youroil.net for Oil Analysis and Weber Parts > Test Results http://members.rennlist.com/oil > PORSCHE POSTERS! youroil.net > 800-583-8601 > Weber Carb Info http://members.rennlist.com/webercarbs > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Wonko the Sane" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "Mercedes Discussion List" <mercedes@okiebenz.com> > Sent: Saturday, June 07, 2008 11:31 PM > Subject: Re: [MBZ] June 6, 1944 > > > > Some really good pics here. > > > > Of course, this all happened a long time (8 years) before I was born. > > > > http://www.uscg.mil/history/Normandy_Index.asp > > > > D. > > > > > > On Sat, Jun 7, 2008 at 10:27 PM, Wonko the Sane <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > wrote: > > > >> An overwhelming majority. > >> > > > > > > > > -- > > LT Don > > http://don.homelinux.net/~don/ > > > > apt-get update > > apt-get upgrade > > The following packages will be replaced > > Prez > > Do you want to continue? [Y/n] Y > > _______________________________________ > > http://www.okiebenz.com > > For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ > > For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > > http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ > For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
