World War Two History

[Mjoelner34]

Here is a very cool story a late friend of mine from Natchez told me. I've shared this on the main board before on Memorial Day or D Day I believe.

He ran one of the carriage tours in Natchez. One time someone contacted him and said that a retired general from Ohio (I think) and his wife were in town and the guy asked a question they thought my friend could answer. He went and met the general and the general asked him about the military history of Mississippians. My friend wasn't sure what the general was getting at with such a broad question so the general explained it to him. He told him that during WWII, he was the aide to the general in charge of the landing craft on D Day. As they were having their last briefing with the landing craft drivers when they were crossing the channel, the general asked if any of the drivers were from Mississippi. Several of the guys raised their hands. The general then informed them that their boats would be leading the first wave. As all the other drivers were hooting and hollering, the general said "If you're wondering why I picked you, it's because you sons of bitches from Mississippi are too stupid and hardheaded to turn and run when you're getting shot at and all we need for this invasion to fail is for the first wave to turn and run." The retired general said he always wanted to know why the general had said that. I don't know what my friend told him but I'm betting some of it has to do with general Barksdale and 4 brigades of Mississippians at Gettysburg. If you've never read about his charge, please go read about it.

A couple of years after my friend told me that story, I relayed it to another friend of mine from Jackson. His eyes welled up and in a cracking voice he told me "My grandpa was a landing craft driver in the first wave there." Well it got real dusty in that room to me all of a sudden too. He went on to tell me that it was so bad that his grandpa said he had to carry a Thompson across his shoulder and threaten the men with it to get them off his boat when he'd drop the ramp. I can't imagine and don't want to imagine all of the shit they had to go through that day. God bless them!!!