D-Day Baseball, Omaha Beach 1944 
By: Frank Snowden U.S. 7th Naval Beach Battalion

 

           Being only 17 years old, it took months of my bugging my father before he went with me to the Recruiting Office and gave his permission.  My buddy, Bobby Clemens, and I intended to join together and be with each other all the way.
           Bobby and I left from Reading Terminal in Philadelphia, PA for Sampson, New York.  When we arrived at Boot Camp, we had to line up for shots.  It was then that Bobby went one way and I  the other.  I never saw him again during my Navy tour.  After 7 weeks of training I went home for a 7-day leave before traveling to Camp Bradford in Little Creek, Virginia.  I was at Ft. Pierce, Florida for 7 weeks getting back to Camp Bradford on Thanksgiving night 1943 and remained there until January 1944 when I went to Lido Beach, Long Island, NY.

           I left the country on the Aquitania from Pier 92 in New York City.  It took 6 days to reach Glasgow, Scotland.  From there we went by train to Salcombe, England for weeks of training.  During this time we practiced landings at Bristol Bay on “ducks” rather than landing craft.  In my spare time I wrote letters home and went into nearby towns of Exeter, Torquay, and Brighton Beach.

           On June 1st we went to Southampton where we experienced air raids for several nights then finally to the marshalling area for several days.  While there I enjoyed playing baseball with some of the Army guys.  Of course the Navy team was better!  To my surprise, the Army players left and all the equipment was just lying around...bats, balls, gloves, being “deserted”.  I quickly picked it all up and put it in a sea bag that I was determined to keep with me.  While at the marshalling area, we saw the huge mock up of the French beaches and found out where we were going.

           We were informed it was time to leave by Lt. Fox so I gathered up all my military equipment, including my rifle and certainly the bag of baseball equipment, and boarded the LST on June 5th for the eventual landing on the 7th.

           As we neared the beach, George Polansky, myself, and 4 others were standing on the bow on the LST betting on what kinds of English plane was approaching.  We got our answer when the German plane dropped 6 bombs alongside of us.  Fortunately the LST was okay but some of the waters lines below were destroyed.

           On June 7th, as we headed toward Omaha Beach on an LCVP, we hit a sandbar so we were ordered by the coxswain to get off.  As I jumped into the water with all my gear, including the baseball equipment, I immediately sank to the bottom.  Joe Szczech grabbed me under the arms and asked, “Where’re you going Frankie”?  I dropped the baseball equipment on the beach as I dashed for cover and never saw it again.

           Now sixty (some) years later, it’s interesting to look back on that naïve 17 year old and his ignorance of what the war was.  I am also amused when I try to think of what the person who found that bag of bats, balls, and gloves thought!

Frank Snowden 

 

 

 

 

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