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JOEL LANDER -  D-DAY AND D+1 RECOLLECTIONS

Joel said that he remembers details of D and D+1 like it was yesterday because he was scared. He wasn’t sure where he was the first day, and there was enemy gunfire everywhere.

He said that they landed very early in the morning on the 6th. They were already very tired because of the weather delay on the 5th. After the jump, they discovered at the time that most of them made it. They had no idea where they were, but soon came across the road sign for Saint Marcouf. They had good maps, so it helped them figure out where they were. Their mission was to get to Utah Beach to connect with their HQ. He’s not sure what towns they went through; they just wanted to connect with HQ.

The first night, D-day, they found an abandoned farmhouse with a big brick wall. They spent the night there, and called it the “Little Alamo” because there were 4 troops from Texas. There were approx. 25 troops at that point because they had picked up stragglers from the 101st and the 82nd. At that point, they realized that 3 from the stick weren’t there. Later they discovered that they were Werner [Angress?], and another troop whose name he can’t remember, and a James Lincoln(?) who hid in a hedgerow for 2 days because he was being fired on. He thinks that Werner and the troop he can’t remember were German Americans ( with very heavy accents ) sent to help with German prisoner interrogations. They picked those 2 up when Cherbourg was liberated.

They arrived at the beach the next day, and spent the night there on D+1. At that point, they found a ride to their HQ, and lost all the stragglers because they were also able to find their HQ.
 

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