Ernie Corvese-Naval Combat Demolition Unit on Omaha Beach

“I just volunteered that’s all.

Our job was to blow up these obstacles. Then had what they call Hedgehogs, and then they had these telephone poles with a ramp and on top of the telephone pole was a mine. That was for when the tide came in, the boats would just slide up there and the mine would explode. Our job was to blow a 50 yard gaps so the infantry could land.

I carried a rifle and a wet belt with canteen, ammunition and a rifle and I forgot how many pounds of explosives I had on my back. I believe they called it tetra tol. As I got to the ramp of the small boat that I was in to land us, just as I jumped into the water, there was this explosion.

While I was in the water, maybe a couple of seconds, someone pulled me out and I couldn’t find anything. I couldn’t find any of the crew I was attached to. The number of the small boat we were on was 13.

I found out later that they were all killed. I was the only one left.

I managed to crawl up the beach. I looked back and could see these tanks that were supposed to float.
They just sank. They went right to the bottom. As I was laying there, I couldn’t find any navy men.
You could tell the navy men because on our helmets we had a blue stripe that went around the helmet.
There was some army men 10 or 15 feet from me, laying down with a medic and an 88, they called them 88’s-the shells-hit them and they were gone.”