First Shell Fire (Part 2 of 2)
Heroes Remember
First Shell Fire (Part 2 of 2)
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And the guys were lined up over there, so we were just about to
go over and these shells start to come in and, of course, it was
the first time I was ever under fire and I dove for the side of
the road, for the embankment, you know, the ditch on the side of
the road, I dove for protection there, and the last thing I saw
was, was one of the shell heading, shells hitting the peak of
that shack roof, you know, and I know a couple of guys who were
killed there with, with those shells coming in. And the MPs, of
course, dove for cover, too cause they're standing on top of the
road at the intersection, and of course, as the Germans
retreated, that's all that they've registered, what they call
registered, they put that on a map and they've registered shells
on there before you ever got there. So they've got that target,
they had everything. They can drop ‘em right in the middle of
the road, you know. So this stuff was coming in, a lot of it
was airburst cause it was 88 and it was airburst and so this
stuff is driving down on ya and, oh Christ, you know, I remember
my head was, you know, ringing and I'm pushing it as far as I
can and I'd have gone right under that road if I could have got
under it, you know. And then one of the older guys that was
there was laughing at me and he says, "Jesus, Dick," he says, "I
never saw anybody run so fast!" he said. I said, "Well, I
didn't see you wasting any time!"
So, anyway, that, that was the, my introduction.
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