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Our primary mission was to follow
what we call Ranger Force A,

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which was D, E and F Companies
of the 2nd Battalion.

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Follow them up the cliffs and exploit
the countryside beyond that.

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Unfortunately, the 2nd Rangers
did not make it to the cliffs

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at least on time, they did finally
about 40 minutes late, but by

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40 minutes late we had to convert
to plan B, which was to land at

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Vierville and then march overland
to the cliffs at Pointe Du Hoc.

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We turned and moved toward
Vierville landing control,

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the men out on the boats off
the beaches told us that we

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could not land at a Vierville
that we had to divert to

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Omaha Dog White Beach, which
was the next beach over.

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When we came off the
boats, we could use

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the breakwaters as
little forts to protect

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us from the dreadful
rifle and machine

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gun fire coming in from our right.

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Crossing the beach, there
were only about 50

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yards, 60 yards of beach
at the time we got there.

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Across the beach, couldn't get to

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the seawall, it was piled
high with men who were

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trying to get out of
that rifle and machine

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gun fire coming in from our right.

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I looked to my left and there was

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an LCI, Landing Craft Infantry,

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coming in and they started to unload
the men down the side, gangways.

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At that point, a man
with a flamethrower, it's

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the only explanation I have
for it, was hit by artillery

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and the whole LCI was just
bursting into flame as

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that jelly gasoline spread
all over the place.

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By now, it was all ignited.

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The battalion moved across,
followed the little pathway into

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an irregular field, that's about
all I can do to describe it.

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In this irregular field, we
received quite a bit of artillery

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fire, it was the first artillery
fire that we had received.

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It was our baptism.

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Of course, the first time
we heard a shell, we all

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hit the dirt, but by the
time we got out of that

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field, we listened to the
sound of the shell coming

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in and we could tell where
they were going to hit.

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If it wasn't very close, we
didn't pay no attention to it.

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We then proceeded down the
road directly to Vierville,

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principally because the B Company
commander said, "I can't

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get through here, there's
too many machineguns." He

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just walked back and chose
to march through Vierville.

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Yes, we were fired at by snipers
and a few things like that.

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Maybe some long-range
machinegun fire.

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But we got through Vierville.

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At that point, we were to
continue on to Pointe Du Hoc

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to relieve the 2nd Battalion,
that was our mission.

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The 29th Division, particularly
the commander of the 116th

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and General Cota, thought that
the beachhead was too fragile.

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He didn't dare let a whole
Ranger battalion go, he

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made us stay to defend the
beachhead that night.

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We went into a night position
in two farmhouses that were

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a couple of hundred yards from
the main Vierville intersection.

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My company in one of the farmhouses

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and the headquarters in
the other farmhouse.

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The next morning,
bright and early, I got

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up and there was a
German counterattack.

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It was not more than 200
yards from me, probably

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down where the engineers
were positioned that night.

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Suddenly, I saw our
tanks were sitting

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there on the road doing nothing

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and yet 250 yards away,
there was a major

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counter attack,
probably company size.

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I banged on the turret
with my rifle until

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the commander came out and
I pointed out this little

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counter-attack and I said,
"Don't you think you

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should take them under
fire?" He said, "Sure."

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He turned around, gave orders
and they took them under

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fire with the coaxial machine
guns, not with the cannon.

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I said, "Why don't you use your
cannon?" He says, "Overkill."

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We relieved Pointe du Hoc, it was
very nice to have the homecoming.

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There were approximately 100 of
them left of the 2nd Battalion.

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They started with about 225.

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The casualties were very high.

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Of these hundred, many of
them were walking wounded.

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I was sitting on a turret,
one of the big gun

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turrets, talking with the
second battalion officer

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when suddenly the tanks
of the 743rd burst

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out of the underbrush and
started shooting at us.

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We had a flag behind us
that was on the thing.

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We waved that, but they
still kept shooting.

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Finally, this is a very
vague memory that I have

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and it's probably not
fully correct, but what

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I remember was the motor
officer of the 2nd

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Ranger Battalion ran about
50 yards from cover

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over to the lead tank,
jumped on the lead tank,

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banged on the turret until
he got the attention

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of the commander and he
said, "You're attacking

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the wrong people."
They stopped firing.

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We took eight killed in that, which
was a very unfortunate incident.

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As I think I told you,
from what I've seen,

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we met with nothing
but military success.

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We did, in fact, relieve the
2nd Battalion and we did, in

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fact, get all the way through
Maisy and captured the artillery

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batteries they had there and there
were three of them, sometime,

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you can count a fourth, but
that doesn't really matter.

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Militarily, it was a great success.

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It certainly was the, a giant
step toward unseating Hitler

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and the success on my side,
which ended up with the capture

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of Saint-Lô by the 29th
Division, it all depended upon

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the fact that the Fifth Ranger
Battalion landed intact.

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We were a major fighting force,
nobody was able to stop us.

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We brushed them right
out of the way.

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We had help from the tanks.

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We had help from artillery.

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Don't kid yourself, we had lots
of help on D+1 and D+2 but still,

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the main thing was a Ranger
battalion, well-trained, intact.

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We just brushed right by
the enemy opposition.