What she went through. Heck...She was even in the second wave on Omaha Beach. Though the beach had been "secured", she still had a few rounds fired her way. When we went down to Punta Gorda (South of Tampa) to visit her, one night, she had her usual one Martini. After we started talking, I noticed she made another one. I later found she rarely ever did that. It was then, she opened up to me about her experience. She told me the worst two things she experienced was seeing a dead Soldier, on Omaha, that looked like her Baby Brother (My ex Father In Law), who was just in High School at the time (He served in Korea). The dead Soldier was badly mutilated . But the ONE thing that still haunted her and it was right after drink #2 that she told me.....Was helping people in a Concentration Camp. She said she had visions and nightmares years later of people who, by all means, SHOULD have been dead. She said they entered a dimly lit compound and walking skeletons approached her. They had to be VERY careful about giving them ANYTHING to eat or drink because their bodies could not handle rapid intake of food. I remember of all the things she told me, it was the talk of the camps that put her into a stare. What a Trooper. When she finished, I asked her if she was ok. She told me that she was fine and letting it out a bit actually helped. She was so low keyed when she would talk and NEVER boastful about what she did. She retired from the Army in 1972 as a Full Bird Colonel. She passed away around 2009.
