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Ghosts Stalk Normandy Beach, Veteran of Invasion FindsBy G. K. HODENFIELDFormer Stars and Stripes Correspondentbe washed'*way by the pounding^Sitting on the edge of the cliffs, looking toward an England thaJJ*a too distant to be seen, Irememb^ea how it was that day—that cold and miserable June 6, 1944 We started the bobbing trip from the transport at 0400. Ahead of us were the cliffs of Pointe du He* an* six Germap artillery pieces, heavuy casemated, that dominated the en tire invasion beaches. These were ‘'Target No. 1, and the job of the Rangers was to put them out o *a°Here was the problem: The goes were situated on the cliffs tto*jutted in to the channel m a bugV.’' The Germans faced inland, in Germans thought that not ew “military idiots, (Hitler’s djjgg terization of Allied leaders) attempt a frontal assault of cliffs. The guns were secure ufl 16 feet of concrete.Mines had been planted profusw on the approaches to the from inland. Tunnels of laced the area. The Jerriesicv fire from one- point, race dowu , tunnel to another point andt again. They planned it perfectly *POINTE DU HOE. Normandy, i June 6 (AP)— At 0640 on June 6,1 1944. 263 gallant men of the 2nd Ranger Bn. landed at PointeduHoe. land for three days fought the i fiercest battle of the entire invasion of Northern France. •When, on the afternoon of the third day, reinforcements arrived from the right flank, theie were only 58 men still able to leave the cliffs of Pointe du Hoe under their own power. Of the 58. at least six were wounded.As a spare part, as they termed it, the Rangers were carrying this writer,, then a reporter for The Stars find Stripes.This week I went back to Pointe du Hoe. It was saddening and a little frightening. Perhaps a return to any battlefield - where you have lost friends is saddening and^Grass^and flowers have grown in the bomb pits and shell holes of Pointe du Hoe. The rope ladders up which'we climbed to scale the 150-foot cliffs lie rotting in the sun. The cliffs themselves are falling into the sea, great chunks of dirt crashing to the narrow shelf of beach below to
Newspaper Details
Southern Germany Stars and Stripes
Altdorf, Bavaria, DE
Fri, Jun 07, 1946
Page 8
Full Page
Clipped by
Dylan S.
USA 22 Sep 2016
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Southern Germany Stars and Stripes
