A few days later, the S-2 section was bussed to an airfield where we prepared sand tables, from recent aerial photos, of what was to be our drop area in Europe.
The flight from England to Normandy (we were told we would drop in Normandy after we were on the plane) was uneventful. Everyone appeared preoccupied with their own thoughts. Perhaps, some were praying.
As we crossed the Normandy coastline, we heard antiaircraft shrapnel hits on the wings and fuselage of our plane. The shrapnel got worse as we flew further inland.
As we watched a C-47 go down in flames, we were ordered to "stand up." I quickly moved to the door to jump. When I got to the door, I saw the crossed tracer bullets on the ground and could hear shrapnel hitting the plane from exploding antiaircraft shells.
I jumped, my chute opened and just as quickly, I was on the ground. I landed in a small fenced area adjacent to a farmhouse that was located 50 feet from the junction of two large fields with a hedgerow between them.
I heard a machinegun firing, and heard men on the driveway of the farmhouse. I walked through a barn until I came to a door that opened on the driveway.
I saw a squad of Germans; one man was pounding on the farmhouse door. A light came on and the soldier and the farmer talked. Then the light went out and the Germans marched out to the main road and turned back toward the way they had come.
I decided to move away from the farmhouse and go looking for our men. I walked down the driveway and crossed the road to the hedgerow. I moved along the hedgerow until I found a clear spot with less growth on the top and rested for about a half an hour. I heard plenty of gunfire (machineguns and rifles).
At daybreak, I moved around the field to see where I was and what was around me. As I walked along the hedgerow, I came to a clear spot and saw two Germans walking up to my field. They were about two hundred yards away. I think we saw each other at the same time because we fired our rifles. A bullet nicked my elbow. I fired two more shots and the Germans hit the ground and did not return fire.
I saw eight to 10 Germans moving out of a stone barn about 200 yards away. So I scrambled over the hedgerow and looked out into water. There were several dead paratroopers floating fifty to seventy-five feet from the shore. | 
