Bloody Omaha: My Remembrances of That Day (Paperback, Fall - 2010) by James Robert Copeland, S/SGT., 5th Ranger Infantry Battalion
I remember receiving sniper fire from above in a similar scene as pictured here -- none of us thought we'd make it. I did make it and here is my story.
It begins from my childhood in West Virginia, where my family and my family's family, worked in the coal mines.
When war broke out (Pearl Harbor), I enlisted in the Army and became Army Ranger -- fighting that fateful day, on the bloodiest beach, June 6th, 1944.


As a home health aid my wife Linda discovered James Robert Copeland. Linda and I were surprised with his energy, his vitality and his story. It didn't take much conversation to convince him of the importance of recording his story for posterity. We had several interviews over the past year and each time JR (as Ranger Copeland likes to be called), reminded me he felt his time was running out. He wanted me to hurry in my writing so he could see the finished book.
JR Copeland will be 89 years old this year. There has never been a time when I didn't find him cordial, informative and quite lucid in his conversation. Hopefully JR will see his story published -- this man is a magnanimous individual, besides being a war hero. I hope my writing does justice to his great story.
--garry m graves, biographer

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Veterans Day – My Experiences

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  We were all pretty scared, but we advanced to the beach. Omaha Beach, usually called Bloody Omaha where over 5000 men were killed. This one beach.

  Fighting in war is hell…no two ways about it. But every soldier will tell you they have to do it. Someone has to do it.

  When we left the landing craft (LCV), the German machine gunners were peppering the boat’s front ramp, we could hear the bullets hitting the door. We dropped into waist-high water, not as bad as some that went in over their head. We hurried from the hedge-post obstacles trying to reach the beach, and the seawall. It was safer there. We stacked as close to the wall as we could, preying the spray of machine gun bullets from above didn’t have our name on them.

  Some made it…many didn’t.

  You can read my story and learn more about me on this fateful day… D-Day, June 6th, 1944. My new book: Bloody Omaha – My Remembrances of That Day by James Robert Copeland, S/Sgt., 5th Ranger Infantry Battalion, WWII, Survivor. Book release date: Winter – 2010. Paperback and eBook versions.

Respectfully, Ranger Copeland (Veterans Day – 2010)

http://www.rangercopeland.blogspot.com/

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