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"We were the most forward element in that sector of Normandy." (Interview)

   John R. Sudyk
Image of John R. Sudyk
John Sudyk [detail]
War: World War II, 1939-1946
Branch: Army
Unit: 187th Field Artillery Battalion
Service Location: Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Vermont; Tennessee; Virginia; France; Belgium; Germany; Czechoslovakia
Rank: Corporal
Place of Birth: Hinckley, OH
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John Sudyk and his artillery battalion weren't the first to land on the beach, but they helped spearhead the subsequent thrust of the American Army through France and Belgium and into Germany. They witnessed the horrors of the Hurtgen Forest and the Battle of the Bulge, were in Paris when it was liberated, and saw desperate Germans fleeing vengeful Russians the war's final chaotic days. In the last portion of the interview tape Sudyk's wife Helen contributes her home front memories of working in a defense plant.

Interview (Audio)
»Interview Highlights  (10 clips)
»Complete Interview  (90 min.)
  Photos
»Photo Album (4 photos)
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 Audio (Interview Excerpts) (10 items)
Catalogue of the enemy equipment destroyed. (01:31) Conditions at the Battle of the Bulge. (01:16) Close shave with a tank. (02:38)
The liberation of Paris. (02:01) "An incentive for us to keep going." (00:47) D-Day and the immediate aftermath. (06:19)
How close Germany came to winning the war. (03:03) Saving German refugees. (01:29) Visit from General Patton. (01:52)
Sights and smells around Normandy; the 5000 Plane Raid. (01:36)  
  
 
Home » John R. Sudyk
 
  The Library of Congress
  May 29, 2007
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