Yeah, it's not flashy like collectors' mint pieces but you know, it was in the war. My Grandfather went in with the British commandos, first wave, June 6, 1944. He told me that he was the only one to live from his troop carrier vessel. My brother says that he told him that one other guy lived.
He described the doors of the vessel dropping and people just getting mowed down. People going over the sides of the vessel and drowning with the heavy gear, and the beaches. I could never really visualize it until I saw Saving Private Ryan.
July 25, 1944 he was taken off of the battlefield with 19 bullet holes in him. Some bullets go in and out thereby leaving 2 holes. They left a bullet in his spine that was too close to the spinal cord to safely remove so by my calculations he was shot a minimum of 10 times. The scary part of that is (as if it wasn't scary enough being shot 10 times) that it was probably an MG 42 or MG 44.
He came home after the war and lived into his 90s living a good life with only his final few years stolen by Alzheimers.
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