"Sergeant St. John beat hell out of me and convinced me that I should become a soldier or I wasn’t going to survive the war." (Interview)

Claud C. Woodring

Claud Woodring, 2003 [detail] War: World War II, 1939-1946 Branch: Army Unit: 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division Service Location: England; Omaha Beach, Normandy, France; Belgium; Aachen, Germany Highest Rank: Sergeant Place of Birth: Berkey, OH

From a training camp malcontent, Claud Woodring became a fearless infantryman who had the unenviable job of leading the way ashore for troops on D-Day. Woodring's vivid descriptions of the horrors on the beach that day are a prelude to his account of chasing the retreating Germany army through France. By night, the enemy would fall back, and during the day, the Allies would catch up, engaging them in battle every day in mid-afternoon.