D-Day: On the Beach: Experiencing War: Veterans History Project (Library of Congress)

Experiencing War: D-Day 60th Anniversary, June 6, 1944-2004 (D-Day 60th Anniversry, June 6, 1944 - 2004): Stories from the Veterans History Project

Wading or swimming ashore on June 6, 1944, were some of World War II's bravest soldiers. Whether demolition experts, rangers trained to scale the cliffs of Normandy, bulldozer operators ready to create a new network on roads, or just infantrymen primed to establish positions, these men all shared a strong sense of determination to take the fight to the enemy and take France back from the Germans.

"Probably the only reason I survived is that the Germans weren't worried about that first person up ahead."

Claud Woodring’s job on D-Day was challenge enough. Scheduled to be among the first soldiers to land on the beach on D-Day, he was to demolish barbed wire so that the troops could advance unimpeded. But he found himself swimming ashore when his boat hit a mine several hundred yards from shore. Despite horrific casualty rates, Woodring and his men achieved their objective, only to face a new challenge: fighting the Germans amid the hedgerows of Normandy.

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Claud C. Woodring's story

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"What I thought were piles of cordwood I later learned were the bodies of 2500 men, killed by withering fire from the Nazi gun emplacements built into the cliff."
-- Tracy Sugarman