I am one of the guilty ones, I'm sorry, I'll take 20 lashes with a wet noodle Rocky

Forgiven, and I'll even save the wet noodles for my spaghetti later on Rocky.

Marion Forgive for I Know Not What I Do(LOL). WILCO MON CHEF!!!!!!

206thmpco I hope this doesn't gross you out or what the hey!!

Note:- LCI = Landing Craft Infantry = Higgins Boat

ASTP Butter Ball Lt = Army Specialized Training Program 2nd Lt.(Gold Bar)

"The Ride to the Beach":-

We left England aboard a troop ship just about a week after D-Day and

there wasn't a whole lot a space aboard the ship but the trip was fairly

short. When we got about a half mile off-shore they dropped cargo nets

over the side and I'm sure you remember the drill. Groups of sixes were

lined up and approached the side to descend into the Higgin's boats that

were coming along side when the word was given-down you went with

all your gear. The Channel must be loaded with the gas masks that were

thrown over the side as excess weight.

Due to the swell that was running this day, the sailors had painted a line

on the ship's side below which you were not to go. In truth,it wasn't too

high but to us it looked liked we had to climb down from a very high place I

into a a canoe which was to hold about a Platoon of Infantry. The swell had

guys sick just looking down at the boat and one guy got so agitated he didn't

think to stop at the painted line and when the swell carried the Higgins boat

up it knocked him off the cargo net and he was gone. I've always remembered

that because we hadn't even got onto the landing craft and we had lost a man

that I knew very well. That sobered everybody and all talking stopped.

Then the circling began until the required number of Higgins boats were filled

and this took time and caused a lot of the men on the boat to get sea sick. By

the time we were lined up in our wave, we were knee deep in vomit and God

forbid you fell down but several men did and it wasn't pretty. One man in the

Plt. was lying on the deck in the puke etc(you figure out the etc.)and when

we got to the beach he said he was too sick to walk ashore let alone fight if

he had to. The Plt. Ldr.told him that if he didn't get up and in position he would

go back to the troop ship and surely be sent back to the beach again. That was

enough to get him on his feet and to wade ashore(thankfully this washed a lot

on the vomit off him in the process) so he looked and smelled much better.

(Actually I think he was tripped or should I say I know he was because I did it.)

The next day the "sick" man approached me and was very upset because he

said he just realized that in order to get back to the States,if he "made it',he

would have to get back on a ship and he didn't think he would be able to do

so. I'm happy to say he made it back to Michigan and after a number of years

died in his own bed at home with his wife and family around him.

Gotta Run -- Bon Soir Toute le Monde

Sgtleo

Sgtleo! Man you're hell on the foreign lingo, whist I could do it. Whats (LOL) Roque

Roque:-

From my Computer expert grandson LOL is one of many abbreviations.

LOL = Lot's of Laughs. They never write out words that can be abbreviated

Such as CU = See YOU

IMHO = In my Humble Opinion

FWIW = For What it's worth

etc.

Sgtleo

Roger,Roger, H L V B----(hasta la vista baby)----------roque

Here's help for replying and quoting. Has an image to see the difference. What do they say? A picture is worth a thousand words.

http://208.109.212.45/forum/index.php?showtopic=3937

"Remember that warm, soft mud last summer?"

Yeah guys, that was one hell of a winter. I read later it was the worst one in over 50 years. Seems like we had as many non-battle casualies as we had batle casualties. Mostly pneumonia, trench foot, frostbite and frozen feet. It was really bad for the wounded guys. Finaly spring sprung then only mostly mud which was a change.

When we finally got to Berchtesgaden (Obersalz) , the Eagles nest in early May, lots of snow on the ground.

Lower elevations though, were bare . Remember the wet socks put inside the shirt to dry trick? At least they were warm and dry for a while.