my father was in thenavy with the 8th bbn during the invasion of southern france. he doesn't talk about his time during the war very much. he has told me that he trained with the 540th eng. prior to the invasion. he said recently that he cleared mine fields on the beach before the landing. i am wanting to get any info. i can get about the training, where they trained, with what co. of the 540th he may have trained with. to put it in a nut shell i am looking for anything i can find out. if there is anyone that could point me in the right direction i would greatly appreciate it. thank you.

I will try putting you in touch with Jack Hickman, a member of the 8th Beach Bn. He and I have been friends for several years. He remembers sitting around and smoking cigs with the 540th. I am sending him an email right now.

Marion

The Naval Beach Battalions have a website with a lot on info, The 8th`s page is here:

History of the Eighth Naval Beach Battalion

For the other Battalions and general info, the main page is here:

http://www.4thbeachbattalion.com/

my father was in thenavy with the 8th bbn during the invasion of southern france. he doesn't talk about his time during the war very much. he has told me that he trained with the 540th eng. prior to the invasion. he said recently that he cleared mine fields on the beach before the landing. i am wanting to get any info. i can get about the training, where they trained, with what co. of the 540th he may have trained with. to put it in a nut shell i am looking for anything i can find out. if there is anyone that could point me in the right direction i would greatly appreciate it. thank you.

thank you very much. i would like to find out all i can, it's hard to because he will not talk about his time over there. i can ask him a couple of questions at a time but only if i don't ask about the wrong thing. my son is in the army in the 46th eng. from ft. polk la. he is in iraq now for the third time, when he comes home i don't ask him much about it but if he wants to talk i will listen intently. thank you again. sorry for rambling.

Never, ever any need to apologize for rambling on this site. That's why we are here. Happy to listen, so be happy to post whatever thoughts come to mind.

I haven't heard from Jack yet, and that leaves me concerned. I'm sure everyone can ascertain why!

The Ben Myers Associations and Alumni Database lists a contact for the 8th NBB

8th Naval Beach Bn

Mr. Vernon W Poston 843-423-0612

807 N Main St

Marion SC 29571-2519

843-423-0612

Ramble all you want, we`ve never had to contact Ramblers Anonymous yet but there may be a few candidates around here.

Please let your father know that there are many people, old & young alike, not just here on this forum but throughout the US that will never forget the sacrafices all our veterens made in preserving the freedoms we have and will continue to pass this on to future generations, and in Europe where the people of France, Belgium, the Netherlands & other countries have for generations adopted

& cared for the graves of our young men who fell in the liberation of their countries. They will not forget & thirst for knowledge of who those young men were, where they came from and what they did.

For us, every veterens story is an important piece of the knowledge quest that helps us understand.

Also, a Thank You to your son for his service to our country. Please keep us posted about his duty in Iraq, we have forum members serving in Iraq at this time and we extend an invitation for him to join this forum if he has internet access.