"I was part of a medical unit and we went ashore with the first wave of troops on June 6, 1944 -- D-Day. Me and my stretcher mate, Rick, were scrambling across the rocks on the shore and there was this crack like a lightning bolt. We dived to the ground. A few moments later, I called to Rick about 12 feet away and said, 'Let’s move on.' When he didn’t, I rolled him over and had my first face-to-face encounter with death. He had a wife and a little girl… I said 'Please, God, let me trade places with him.' The sniper and machine gun-fire cut through the air, and I’m right beside his body. Before that day, I had never cussed, never even uttered an 'F' or a 'D.'  But at that moment - I couldn’t help but stand straight up and scream at the Germans, 'Damn you every one.' Instead of being cut down, I suddenly felt warmth and peace. We worked non-stop for two days, carrying the wounded for evacuation to hospital ships, caring for who needed it. I begged for blankets sometimes, and supplies. I pleaded many times with sailors on the landing craft to take 'just one more' casualty back to the ship. We moved off the beach about two weeks later."

- Richard Borden, Navy Corpsman. June 6, 1944. Morehead City, NC

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