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Skittles

(172,539 posts)
9. from his IMDB page
Tue Dec 25, 2012, 08:58 PM
Dec 2012

[about arriving at Omaha Beach on D-Day] It's hard to describe what we all went through that day, but those of us who were there will understand. We were frightened all the time. My sergeant said 'are you scared, son?' and I said 'yes, I am', and he said 'that's good, it's good to be scared', he said 'we all are'. This guy in the boat, he turned to me and he threw up all over me, and I got seasick. He was scared. You're not thinking about anything, you're just thinking about you hope that shell that just went off isn't going to hit this boat. Even the guys who had seen a lot of action before, and this was my first time, they were just as ashen as I was, and I was frightened to death. I was the second man off my barge and the first and third men got killed. First guy the ramp went down, the guy fell and I tried to leap over him and I stumbled and we both slipped into the water. We were supposed to be able to walk into shore but they didn't bring us far enough. And I was in 60 feet of water with a 60 pound pack on, so I let it all go.

[on reaching Omaha Beach after falling in the water] I came up and I didn't have a helmet, a rifle, nothing. I hit the beach, the guys pulled me in who were already there, I'd lost everything; but they said 'you'll find plenty of them on the beach, rifles, helmets, that belong to nobody'. Nobody knew where we were supposed to go, there was nobody in charge, you were on your own. All around me people were being shot at, I saw bodies all over the place; but you didn't know if they were alive or dead, they were just lying there.

[about D-Day] We got behind this tank to protect ourselves; we're holding our own when they called us over to them. I asked the sergeant 'you want me to go first or you go first?' He said 'you go first, I'll be right behind you'. I heard an explosion, and I turned around, and his torso was here, and his body was over there.

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Thank you for posting this wonderfully talented man. Prior to his "making it" he taught dancing monmouth3 Dec 2012 #1
from his IMDB page Skittles Dec 2012 #9
Somehow, I knew before I opened this thread LeftofObama Dec 2012 #2
Me too! nt Still Blue in PDX Dec 2012 #18
RIP Mr. Durning Az_lefty Dec 2012 #3
One of the Greats for sure! ReRe Dec 2012 #4
I do believe this was nominated for "best song." Still Blue in PDX Dec 2012 #19
He was in "Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou" ReRe Dec 2012 #20
Thanks for the smile. Hassin Bin Sober Dec 2012 #5
Loved it! I laughed. kayakjohnny Dec 2012 #6
One of the best!!! RIP Mr. Durning. n/t Tom_Foolery Dec 2012 #7
and so much more than I knew. MostlyAmused Dec 2012 #8
In his later years, wouldn't he have made the coolest Grandpa ever? Capt.Rocky300 Dec 2012 #10
What a man! Theyletmeeatcake2 Dec 2012 #11
Agreed. davidwparker Dec 2012 #12
Oh brother where Art Thou. Hotler Dec 2012 #13
Nice. progressoid Dec 2012 #17
so he and jack klugman both died yesteray? who is #3 (because they do seem to come in 3's) niyad Dec 2012 #14
He always reminded me of Stephen Douglas, who he played on TV Bucky Dec 2012 #15
That was simply GREAT hourglass1 Dec 2012 #16
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