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Veterans' Stories -- Capt Greenip
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| Capt.
"Squeak" Greenip
After
the break out of D-Day, Capt. Greenip led E Company, 8th Infantry
as it tried to shore up control of the Contentin Peninsula.
This vignette tells his story of a critical ammunition run to
resupply troops facing German opposition.
The time was probably about 10 or 11 June 1944 and we were holding just outside Montebourg in Normandy.
The 90th Division had built up behind us and started across the
Cotentin Peninsula to seal it off before we started for Cherbourg.
We were under pressure from the Germans all along our front and
especially in the 2nd Battalion area. |
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| A group of paratroopers in a
French village at St. Marcouf, Utah Beach, France. From
here they will move on into the continent, accomplishing
their assigned objectives. (Credit: U.S. Army Center
for Military History) |
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They did not want
to be trapped on the Peninsula and we did not want them to break out!
During the day I was sent forward from regiment to determine the
situation in front of the 2nd Battalion. My group was elsewhere, so I
went forward to visit "E" and "F" Company.
Shortly after dark the Germans attacked the 2nd Battalion sector, the
line held but the pressure built! Battalion said they could probably
hold but that "E" Company was low on ammunition. Capt.
"Squeak" Greenip, commander "E" Company told
Regiment that I knew his location and asked that I bring as much
ammunition as a jeep and 1/4-ton trailer
could hold - by midnight! We loaded a good selection and took off for
the "front" - about 4 or 5 miles away. Time was short so we
used the main highway - a straight shot toward Montebourg - an 88
covered the road but we felt that the dark gave us cover. About 200
meters short of where I planned to turn off to "E" Company we
found that the road had been mined. The Germans had not had time to dig
in the mines - they just sat on top of the roadway. There were about 20
Teller anti-tank mines!
I decided it was too dangerous to go off road around the mines - so I
walked in front, checked for trip wires, and guided Salvaggio, my
driver, as he straddled the mines - we got through! The two
"shotguns" rejoined us on the other side. We continued on for
about 200 meters and turned left into a field, stopped against a
hedgerow and went looking for "E" Company. We finally found
them, the fire fight was about 100 meters to their front and slowing
down a little. "Squeak" gave me a carrying party and we picked
up the ammunition and took it to "C" Company.
About 30 minutes later we got back to the jeep, and Salvaggio was still
there but "as nervous as a whore in church." It seems the
Germans were digging in on the other side of the hedgerow to our front.
They hadn't checked and we didn't tell them - so there we were - about
50 meters apart and separated only by darkness and a hedgerow. |
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