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names or i u,uuu guns.Low tide was at 5 a.m. As thelanding craft fought its way tHrough the heavy seas and neared the beach. McMunn saw the obstacles that the Germans had erected.Metal A-frame I beams and iron stakes tipped with mines sprouted from the water like asparagus shoots. Beyond, in the innocent-looking sand were antipersonnel mines; “Bouncing Betties” the Gls later called them. Step on one and it would jump into the air several feet and send out a hail of shrapnel, cutting a man to pieces. Beyond lay tangled barbed wire followed by asteep embankment where Germans held the high ground.McMunn was headed into the eye of a storm. The craft stopped, the front end dropped and he waded ashore, among the first Americans to set foot on French soil.“Each one of the metal beams had a bomb strapped to it with a pressure dev ice. McMunn said. “If a landing craft hit it. it would explode and blow the bottom out of the ship. We didn't take the bomb off; we took the firingdev ice out.”After the bombs on the metal obstacles were disarmed, they had to remove the barbed wire so the infantry could advance forward.“We took banglelores torpedoes that looked like a piece of a stove pipe, and ran that under the barbed w ire and would blow it.” he says. Then we placed tracing tape along both sides so the troops could pass.”Locating the mines was a dan-gerous job.“We used mine sweepers, hand-held and five people would shoulder-to-shoulder probe for 'em and mark 'em. Some had pressure-release booby traps beneath 'em. Somebody else would come up behind and deactivate 'em.”After the infantry secured thewbeach, they advanced intorhedgerow' country. ‘The hedgerows were an entanglement of ancient hedges and trees that were almost impenetrable. The Gl's slugged it out with the Germans, fighting for each foot of ground. Casualties were high. McMunn's outfit had one
Newspaper Details
Athens News Courier
Athens, Alabama, US
Sun, Feb 18, 2001
Page 44
Full Page
Clipped by
Deborah S.
USA 27 Dec 2022
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