Saving Private Ryan : D-Day Web

There is nothing more haunting or chilling than reading a personal account of the Normandy invasion written by someone who was actually there. Although Steven Spielberg has come close to recreating the horrors of war in his film Saving Private Ryan, nothing can ever fully encapsulate the terror and shock that must have been felt by men as young as 17 on that day in June, 1944.

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Below are a series of personal accounts, written by men who were on the frontline at Normandy in 1944. Most the links are external, and will take you directly to the document the link describes. If you happen to possess any more personal accounts, or perhaps even you were there yourself, I would dearly love to hear from you.

"I Was There"
Congressman Sam M. Gibbons recollects D-Day in a fantastic personal account of the invasion of Normandy.

Thomas Valence
116th Infantry Regiment

George Roach
116th Infantry Regiment

Warner Hamlett
116th Infantry Regiment

Robert Sales
116th Infantry Regiment

Ray Nance
116th Infantry Regiment

Roger Brugger
116th Infantry Regiment

Robert Walker
116th Infantry Regiment

Real Letters From The Front
For many years during WWII the letters soldiers sent home from the war in Europe were sanitized in order to protect the public from the awful realities of battle. The PBS D-Day website presents a series of these real, uncensored letters for your reading pleasure.

Franz Gockel
352nd Division (German perspective)

Any broken links or suggestions? email me