"We were souvenir hunting [on Juno Beach after the D-Day invasion]...and then we ran into these bodies, stacked like cordwood. Germans in one pile, British in another. Here we were, these guys were dying and we were picking up souvenirs. I didn’t think that was a nice thing for us to be doing, so I went back aboard the ship. I quit doing that." (Video Interview, 48:34)

Max Wayne Lilley

Max Lilley [2005] War: World War, 1939-1945 Branch: Coast Guard Unit: USS LST (Landing Ship, Tank) 261 Service Location: New London, Connecticut; European Theater; Pacific Theater; Indian Ocean Rank: Lieutenant Place of Birth: MO

Max Lilley joined the Coast Guard shortly after Pearl Harbor was attacked because it was "the thing to do" and he liked their uniforms better than those of the Merchant Marines. As a gunnery officer, Lilley sailed around the world, stopping at ports in North Africa, India, and Europe, and France. Mr. Lilley’s ship participated in the invasion of Normandy on D-Day, successfully delivering British "Desert Rats" onto Juno Beach.