I thought the water looked very shallow with no place to hide. I got into the water and was standing up to my neck. I moved to a large tree at the water's edge, put my rifle in shallow water and hunched down. About ten minutes later some Germans came and stood on each side of the tree.
At one point, I slowly moved my head to see one of the German soldiers dressed in a gray-green uniform. He had a machinegun slung over his chest. The Germans stood there for 10 -12 minutes and then moved back over the hedgerow.
I waited about an hour or more before I got out of the water and into the hedgerow. I stayed hidden in the hedgerow until after noon when I saw paratroopers coming into the field.
Over the next three days, we collected 27 men from the 508 and other units. We were in that field five days when a combat patrol from the 90th Infantry Division crossed the causeway and relieved us.
During our time in the field, we captured two Germans and lost two of our men. Subsequently, we were led to the 508th PIR assembly area.”
Owen (O.B.) Hill message center chief. “We had a relatively smooth flight over the English Channel until we crossed the Normandy coast. Then, we encountered heavy clouds, and our C-47s broke formation to avoid mid-air collisions.
We were standing and hooked up, and when the green light went on, we jumped knowing we were not over or even near our drop zone. I landed in the Douve River– about five miles from the drop zone.
When I landed in the river and stood up I was in waist deep water and Germans were shooting at me. I submerged myself with just enough of me sticking up to breathe.
After the firing had stopped, I was able to assemble my equipment and started getting out of the river. It was still quite dark and there was action taking place all around where I had landed, so I kept as quiet as possible and started in what I thought was the direction of our drop area.
Soon I heard someone walking toward me - not knowing whether a friend or foe was approaching, I stopped and lay flat on the ground. Then I realized that I was at the edge of a ditch, which, was about four, or five feet deep and the approaching men were Germans walking in the ditch. I remained absolutely still as they passed - I could have touched their helmets as they passed, and I was sure they could hear my heart pounding. | 
