The Beginning - Dal Estes

This is an excerpt from Dad's manuscript, written by him and lovingly typed (on an electric typewriter) and proofed by our Aunt, Marie Mertes. The cover art was created by my Uncle, Dick Myers.   (All of my Dad's writings from now on will be in italics)

"I was a member of one of the best-trained and proudest bastard outfits in the U.S. Army.  We trained in the swamps of Georgia for expected warfare in the Pacific.  We trained for six hot months in the desert of California for expected desert warfare in Africa.  We trained on the shores of Massachusetts for expected water invasion, etc. and for anti-aircraft practice.  And we spent several months in England, training and whetting our appetites for the "biggest show on Earth".

We had shifted officers, we had shifted men, we had improvised equipment, we had taken boys and men from farms, offices, shops, cities, towns and villages and drilled them into fighting men who knew their jobs and were ready to meet the challenge of the"great day" with pride.

We had suffered without water in the desert; we had endured the mosquitoes and snakes of the swamps; we had survived the winter cold of Massachusetts.   We had dodged U-boats crossing the Atlantic, and we had survived English cooking (?) on the boat taking us to England (stewed kidneys for breakfast).  My crew raided the commissary of sardines and all the canned meat and crackers.  Yes, we had become a resourceful "fighting family".  We had lived through the bombings on us in the camps in Great Britian - some had learned to dig deep fox holes due to these bombings - a lesson to be used many times later.  We were ready and we knew our jobs well.

Hitler had spent at least three years building a redoubt along the Atlantic Ocean on the coast of France that was reported to be "impenetrable" and to break this wall it would take know-how, ingenuity and guts;  and we had the arrogance to believe that we would sure as hell do it.  Nowhere in our training was there any doubt of our not being successful in the complete liberation of Europe from a "mad man" who had hypnotized the German people."  -Dal Estes

This excerpt from my Dad made me realize once again, how life is certainly perspective.  The biggest stress moment in preparations for my trip has been determining which overpriced Osprey backpack to purchase in order to have easy maneuvering through the streets of Paris and sands of the Normandy beach.  I've spent countless hours behind my keyboard searching for any information I can to make my trip better and to try and prepare myself for what I don't know.  I think now about those young men 70 years ago, preparing and training the best they could for a day that in their wildest thoughts, couldn't have imagined.  The contrast isn't lost on me.  I hope throughout this journey, no matter what calamity may or may not happen along the way - I'll always be grateful I'm in a warm bed, have plenty to eat and be thankful for the creature comforts that my Dad and his "brothers" went without, so I could be there on that continent 70 years later, celebrating in their honor.