Wading or swimming ashore on June
6, 1944, were some of World War II's bravest soldiers. Whether
demolition experts, rangers trained to scale the cliffs of Normandy,
bulldozer
operators ready to create a new network on roads, or just infantrymen
primed to establish positions, these men all shared a strong sense
of determination to take the fight to the enemy and take France back
from the Germans.
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“The Sergeant said,‘Follow me.’ He did not order his men forward, but actually went in front himself, which is the sign of a leader.”
In any large wartime invasion—and none was bigger during WWII than D-Day—there has to be a set of logistical experts who can maneuver the men and materiel and keep the lines of communication open. That was Joe Vaghi’s job on Normandy on June 6; he was a Navy Beachmaster. Vaghi went on to perform the same duties in the Pacific Theater, but none of those beaches presented the same kind of challenges as he encountered on the sands of Northern France.
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and experience
Joseph Peter Vaghi's story |
Experience
more Stories of D-Day 65th: On the Beach |
"What
I thought were piles of cordwood I later learned were the bodies
of 2500 men, killed by withering fire from the Nazi gun emplacements
built into the cliff."
-- Tracy Sugarman |
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