G. 1. Joe Writes
; Of ‘D-Day’ Chores
* —
1 Latter Received Recently in
1 Nome Telle of Tragedy and
Chaos of Invasion Dar
J
I {Editor’s Note: The following
I letter, received in Nome recent
" ly. gives a first-hand description
some of the events happening
on “D-Day” when the coast of
fa France was invaded by Allied
e Wnaies. We hope our readers en
„ joy its contents, as we did):
fc -
♦ *1!)ear Hazel:
I " ‘Comment allez vous?’ In
j, French, ‘Now are you?’. In Bel
y the same. Now, Somewhere
I to Germany,' ‘How are you?’ be
I comes, *Wie Gehls.* I must ask
Co be excused for resorting to the
use of mimeo letters* bqt time in
j a combat zone, as well as condi
s Upas, prevents one keeping up
! much of a correspondence. So
' from the beginning—
\ , "After a trip across the Atlan
< lie, Ocean in a single ship during
Hie month of December 1943,
We landed at the port of Liver
pool’ England. What a happy
gang of GI’s we were to get our
ffeet on the comparatively safe
poll of ‘Merrie’ England. The fol
lowing half year was spent in
training and the preparation for
tha Big Push into Hitter’s Fort
cess Europe. Finally, D-Day as
sumed a reality and we found
Ptirselves being loaded on L. C.
f -- - __11
T.’s and numerous other chan
nel craft. Two days and nights
of tense waiting followed, and
then the eagerly awaited order
came through, and the greatest
invasion armada ever assembled
started towards it sobjective,
just as the sun was retiring to
warm up the chow lines in the
Asiatic part of the War World.
The following five days and
nights were spent aboard an L.
C, T., which was so crowded
with GI Joes and equipment that
even the addition of Johnny, the
Phillip Morris caller, might have
well caused the craft to list.
Early on D-Day morning, around
9:00 a. m. the shores of Prance
loomed upon the enemy occupied
horizon, and everyone was tense
with expectation. This was IT!
The big moment had arrived.
Such a commotion! The Navy’s
big guns were pounding the fam
ed coastal wall, the air umbrella
was roaring through the skies in
all the zig-zag mahuevers imag
inable, and the bobbing channel
craft could' be seen as far as one
could see With field glasses. Be
lieve me, that sense of gigantic
power made the chills of proud
ness for the United States of
America run up and down our
patriotic spines. At last the door
of the L. C. T. dropped and our
part of the invasion, began. Wad
ing in water shoulder deep, with
all my equipment on, I started
for the shore. Something whiz
zed into the water near me and
that was my first taste of enemy
fire. After reaching the shore I
hurried to shelter behind the
coastal defense wall, about 2Vz
feet high. The sand was soft, so
I dug in and rested for a while.
Rest is hardly the word for you
are as alert as a bird dog at the
first flush of a game bird. The
mass of activity on that beach
one can hardly imagine, much
less describe. Knowing my route,
I hid on the water-side of vari
ous trucks in order to cover my
self from enemy artillery fire. At
this point I saw my first dead
and wounded in combat, and the
j chilling realization of the bloody
! side of combat surged over me
1 as one who is startled at the sud
den sight of a coiled rattlesnake.
At this point I looked at the
truck I was using for cover and
lo and behold it carried a red
sign—‘Explosives’- — Needless to
say, I hurriedly ran forward to
find one with a less dangerous
cargo. While crouching behind
one truck, I saw my first Ger
man prisoners, about 50 in num
ber and as they marched past
me,* one- of them smiled and wav
ed. For no good reason at all I
returned his greeting. Hardly a
time for being sociable. So to get
off the beach and work inland.
What a grand feeling to find
part of your own 'buds’. In fact,
that’s when you first realize
what the word means. Soon, bftt
quickly, amidst flying shells,
[ shrapnel and enemy bombers,
you dig your first temporary
home in the good earth.
Now 114 days later, it seems
that I have acclimated myself to
the life of a combat engineer. If
you folks on the home front
could see the wreckage of actual
warfare in the first few weeks
of the French invasion, you’d
thank God for America. Some of
the medium-sized towns we con
voyed through were actually
levelled to the ground, with
NOTHING left but smouldering
ruins, where in former years the
happiness and peace enjoyed by
the Americas, went undisturbed
on its daily schedule of human
living. I was much impressed by
the reception accorded the Yanks
by the liberated French. We were
royally greeted with wine and
flowers. Such a contrast to our
arrival in England. The English
people seemed to assume the at
titude that they were doing us
j a favor by having us on their
. island. Of course, being Yanks
: we overlooked this and credited
it to the centuries of English
J traditions that they still adhere
j to conscientiously. If, however,
j you think the French people!
" • '-"i .^
were happy to welcome us, you
should have seen the welcome ac
corded by the Belgians.
They thronged the streets to
the extent that our convoys were
almost brought to a stop. They
had all sorts of Belgium flags,
pins wine beer, cognac, cham
pagne, fruit and the tears of hap
piness made some of the best of
us have that old familiar choked
feeling that sometimes delays the
natural speech momentarily. I
ended up with a beautiful Bel
gium girl on my lap and was kiss
ed in the true French fashion,
and I must say it is a fashion all
(Continued on Page 7)
« —--—-— ■ . - —..
LEGAL ADVERTISEMENT
IN THE PROBATE COURT,
CAPE NOME PRECINCT,
TERRITORY OF ALASKA,
SECOND DIVISION.
IN THE MATTER OF THE ES
TATE OF EDWIN HOVEN,
DECEASED.
No. 694
NOTICE OF HEARING AND
SETTLEMENT OF FINAL
ACCOUNT
Notice is hereby given that the
undersigned Administrator of
the estate of Edwin Hoven, de
ceased, has filed in the above
named Court her Final Account,
and that the 12th day of Decem
ber, 1944, at the hour of 11
o’clock A. M. of said day, at the
Court room of said Court, at
Nome, Alaska, has been by Court
Order fixed as the time and
place for a hearing on said Final
Account and the adjudication as
to who the heirs and distributees
of said estate axe.
Objecions to said Account will
be heard at this time.
Dated the 11th day of October,
1944.
GERTRUD HOVEN,
Administrator.
Oct. 13, 20, 2T; Nov. 3.
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