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Nathan M. Greenstein, MD Lt. Commander, Medical Corps, US Navy Reserve US Navy Amphibious Forces—4th Beach Battalion C Company, 9th Platoon
Excerpts from unpublished personal journal
Happy Birthday to me. And what a birthday present we were handed. Stayed up until about 2 am, wakened from sleep by GQ at 4:10 am. There was a moderate jolt which seemed to come from forward, and immediately the
engines stopped. We got up fast, dressed and then heard the chattering of the AA. After chafing at the enforced confinement, went out on deck. It was quite dark and quiet, except for tracers and gunfire flashes off to port. What actually happened was this: shortly before 4 am, planes were heard overhead by the lookout. They coasted over our convoy, gunned their motors and swooped down from astern. All the LSTs and the escorts let loose and meanwhile the entire area was brightened to daylight by flames. The explosion we heard was not a torpedo in the engines, as we feared, but a plane was hit and crashing at top speed, barely skimmed the LCT and hit the water 50 feet off our starboard bow. There was a tremendous cascade of water which washed several gunners off the small boats, but no one was injured—-strange, indeed, in view of the large pieces of metal blown onto the ship by the underwater explosion. It gave the boys plenty to talk about. It is revealing that most of
them confirmed, and even reveled in the degree of fright from which they suffered—-a defense mechanism in reverse, so that anyone insisting on having had no fears could be reviled as nothing more than a common liar. Today was a gorgeous day, the sea calm, the sun hot, with quite a cooling breeze. We have our barrage balloons up now, which means low level strafing an
bombing is much less likely. The mountains of Algeria come right down to the water, and in the distance, snowed ridges are visible. Not much sleep for us tonight. April 2 What a letdown! Nothing at all happened, although we all slept in our clothes. Several of the boys have had mild cases of the jitters, but at least they have all been exposed mildly and this may immunize them. Sea has been choppy and the tub can roll even through the waves. Apparently we are due to arrive at Bizerte by tomorrow. It won’t be too soon. We are all looking forward to finding out
our jobs and getting off the ship. April 16 Aboard ship to Italy We are off on the next leg of our journey, and as the writing shows, this is done under some difficulties——colder, windier and rougher than I imagined it would be. Took on a load of RAF A.A. men for Naples and some men for Salerno. Talked with the RAF captain. Has seen activity in Palestine and Egypt—-ribbons are worn if campaign is a victory, not merely for being there. A bad night for sleeping. Rocking was pretty bad, and my sleeping bag not set up. Passed up two meals for safety’s sake. Finally made the north coast of Sicily, which blocked off the strong SE wind. Large steep granite formations line the coast with only occasional depressions such as at
Palermo. Now a small convoy. April 17 Weather improved and woke to see the Italian coast, a very rocky and forbidding chain. No wonder it’s a poor country. Most if it runs up and down. Dropped off the convoy and made our way into Salerno, which has as steep hills as the rest of what we saw, with tiny mud huts stuck on the sides. Finally saw the city of Salerno, all jammed at the foot of a steep hill with a ruined tower at the top. Had a tough time docking, and tore away several cables and hawsers. Finally got tied up and after some diddling, got off the ship. Got some transportation out to my outfit. April 18—20, 1944 Salerno, Italy tent city Find I am attached to C Company, 9th Platoon. This outfit had been at Anzio, a tough spot for comfort—-sleeping in pup tents, catch as catch can food, etc. They were through two invasions, Sicily and Salerno. Learned some dope on our work —- go in about 4th wave, confined to beachhead, handle beach casualties and funnel others from army evac hospitals to transports. June 6, D-Day This is a red letter day. The Western front has actually begun. Suddenly the news came. First the German, then the Allied acknowledgement. All of these men have been through invasions and know what the score is, and didn’t envy the 2nd Beach Battalion over in England. Of course, we are most interested in how this will concern us. I believe we are probably scheduled for a South of France invasion. Second choice, Genoa. We have a big army and air
force in Corsica. No point in any more Italian beachheads. The Channel crossing will have to be secured and of course the southern landing will have to go through a good deal of France before hitting appreciable resistance. I do not anticipate a Balkan invasion, believing that Russia’s predominant interest will be respected. I’ve been wrong before on more accurate grounds. At the beach today, saw several LSTs and LCT
- indices of more activity for us, and perhaps the halcyon days are over. Well, the sooner they put us to work, the sooner we get home. June 23, Salerno Rumors are floating around about our moving out and joining the army for maneuvers. Everyone feels more or less certain that a landing will be made on the southern coast of France. It certainly appears the most logical place to invade. Northern Italy will not be worth the effort and will be blocked by impassable mountains. The Balkans are out, probably by agreement with Russia, which leaves us right there around Toulon and Marseilles in South France. I prefer that to the other sector. No south Pacific if I can possibly avoid it. Being a Johnny-come lately with this outfit, I certainly hope that any good breaks it gets, I may share them. June 26—June 29 July 5—16 I’m rather relieved to find that our outfit is in reserve and may not come in too soon, not too late, that is, to give the enemy plenty of time to bring up stuff to pound the beaches. We also have reason to believe that opposition will not be as bad as in Normandy and lord knows I don’t know how Germans can tear themselves into enough pieces to cover everything, particularly with the Russians knocking on the door of east Prussia, Warsaw in jeopardy, and the Normandy front widening out steadily. We seemed to have pulled out most of the American troops which were in action against the Germans in Northern Italy, and judging by the English convoys going up, they will just about overtake all of Italy. Also, the French are pulling out, in all likelihood to share the invasion with us. That will leave the Poles probably with the British and colonials. Fortunately, the Army and Navy have had the opportunity to learn from three tough invasions how to avoid mistakes and we will probably profit by them to our advantage. August 11 |
