Stan Matulis

A Foothold in Normandy Two of our companies went into May-sur-Orne and the place was being splattered by German mortars and the bombardment was getting serious, those fellows were going to get hit sooner or later, let’s go to the house. There’s about three of us that went into that house, there was a window and there was a bigger room. I guess I crossed it twice and that’s where the wisdom of the battlefield comes in, they don’t do these things like that. I crossed this window, I was spotted by another German and he fired through the window, he hit me. I’m lying on the ground and I can see my pouches but I can’t move. So all I can see is my pouches, I said, “Geez, the rest of my body’s somewhere on the other side of the room.” And a guy came up and he says, “What happened to you?” And I said, “Hell, can’t you see, I’m blown apart.” He said, “Oh, you’re hit in the neck.” Corporal Forsyth comes in and he says, “We’re pulling out, we can’t take it, we’re moving and we’re pulling out of May-sur-Orne.” And I says, “Are they putting me in the stretcher?” Not a stretcher but a door, that was sort of in shambles. And they put me and the damn door broke. And I went through. So John Feesel and Charlie Forsyth took my arms, one took my arm, one took my shoulders and they carried me out into the street but the mortaring didn’t stop. The mortaring kept pounding, the Germans kept pounding and pounding at us with mortars. Well, they carried me down the road and the mortars and they dropped me. They just had to lay down beside me until the mortars exploded somewhere and they were able to move again. Took me another 25 yards, and the mortars would come over again. So Charlie Forsythe said, “Look, we can’t carry you any further. You’re on your own.” But the Bren gun carrier was not far away and he was making a noise as if moving. And he yelled, “Don’t move that carrier or I’ll shoot you.” Jesus, I felt good. Oh God, what a feeling of relief went into me, that they would order that guy, I doubt if he was very serious but that kind of a command made that guy stop and wait for us. And then I was put in that Bren gun carrier and away we went.