When I jumped from the plane on D-Day, and as I was descending from about 500 feet, all I could see was water below.

There was ground below me, and I was expecting to hit like a ton of bricks because of the weight of the equipment I was carrying. It was a surprise when there was just a big splash.

I was fooled when I looked down because of the reeds growing in the water. They were as thick as the hair on a dog and had grown to about 18 inches above the water, so there was no reflection from the flares,

I went under the water and floundered around before I was able to get my feet on the bottom and stand up.

There was no problem unbuckling the chest strap, but I still had to bend down to release the seat straps.

I was standing chest deep in water, and there was no way I was going to go down to get those
straps.

With full recognition that it was willful destruction of government property, I used my knife to cut the straps.