"I think it was really good therapy for me [writing about his war experience] because I was able to think it all out and remember from day to day what I had done, and sort of put it to rest, I guess." (Video Interview, 54:48)

Charles H. Neighbor

Charles Neighbor War: World War, 1939-1945 Branch: Army Unit: E Company, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division Service Location: European Theater; Omaha Beach, France Rank: Private First Class Place of Birth: KS

Charles Neighbor witnessed firsthand the kind of confusion and mechanical failure that afflicted American troops in the deadly first hours of D-Day, June 6, 1944. First, he and his buddies were dropped off at the wrong section of beach. Then, assigned to carry an extra fuel tank for a flamethrower, Neighbor was forced to take over the weapon when his partner was hit in the shoulder soon after disembarking on the beach. Neighbor was unable to light it, and so never once used the weapon on which he had trained for months.