Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
5:40 | Ed Smith knew they were too early. It was 7 AM and the landing craft stopped and lowered the ramp. Immediately he saw the two men at the front get killed and then he realized that they weren't close enough to shore and the water was deep. He picked out a big man and followed him toward the Omaha Beach seawall. Part 2 of 4.
Keywords : Ed Smith Landing Craft D-Day seawall sand bar 88mm gun medic German shock Beach Battalion Pharmacist's Mate
As World War Two raged across the world, Ed Smith left the monotony of the tobacco farm and followed his older brothers into the service. He chose the Navy and entered Hospital Corps training, then joined one of the most dangerous outfits around, an amphibious Beach Battalion.
The Beach Battalion was the Naval unit that went ashore at the forefront of an amphibious landing and managed the whole operation. Hydrographic Specialists, Signalmen, and Hospital Corpsmen, like Ed Smith, had some of the most hazardous assignments. He describes his training and the organization of the complex and difficult task of invasion.
They got the word. D-Day would be June 5th. Hospital Corpsman Ed Smith boarded his transport and prepared to be in the vanguard of the invasion. They were told that the Air Corps and the Navy would destroy all the German defenses. Delayed for a day by bad weather, they circled a mile and a half off shore waiting for word to go. Their target time to hit the beach was 7:20 AM. Part 1 of 4.
Pharmacist's mate Ed Smith relates what he saw and felt during the chaos of the Omaha beach landing. As German 88mm guns, mines and machine guns exacted a heavy toll, the GI's persevered and broke through the defenses. Part 3 of 4.
The 7th Beach Battalion stayed on Omaha Beach for 23 days after the invasion. Pharmacist's Mate Ed Smith says that June 6th was the worst, of course, but the following two days were also tense as he tried to care for the many casualties with limited resources. He joined his commander on a trip inland to get something special for the men on the burial detail. Part 4 of 4.
As a member of a Beach Battalion, the Navy's vanguard force for amphibious invasions, Ed Smith survived the chaos of Omaha Beach and then was shipped out to the Pacific. Fortunately, nothing that monumental was waiting for him, though he did experience some Kamikaze attacks at Okinawa.
