tom breedin journal entry: 06.06.1944

"within the first minutes, the sea ran red. even among some of the lightly wounded who jumped into shallow water, the hits proved fatal. knocked down by a bullet in the arm or weakened by fear and shock, we were unable to rise again and some drowned by the onrushing tide. other wounded men dragged themselves ashore and, on finding the sands, lay quiet from total exhaustion, only to be overtaken and killed by the water.

a few of us moved safely through the bullet swarm to the beach, then found that we couldn't hold there. we returned to the water to use it for body cover. we crept toward the land at the same rate as the tide. that is how most of the survivors made it.

lt.Tidrick took a bullet through the throat. he staggered onto the sand and flopped down ten feet from me. The blood spurted and heard the strangled words gasped by tidrick: “advance with the wire cutters!”. moments later, machine gun bullets ripped tidrick from crown to pelvis.

along the beach, only one able company officer was still alive even though he was hit in the heel and belly. every sergeant was either dead or wounded. the germans on the high ground had spotted all leaders and concentrated fire their way. rifles, packs, and helmets had been cast away in the interests of survival.

to the right, another craft nosed toward the beach. In that instant, two machine guns concentrated their fire on the opening. not a man was given time to jump. all aboard were cut down where they stood.

To stay alive became a full-time job. By the end of one half hour, approximately two thirds of the company was forever gone." – T/5 Tom Breedin, 1st assault wave, A. Co., 1BN, 116th inf., 29th ID, Omaha Beach, 06.06.1944.